Wealth of the richest people increased by $241 billion in 2012

The wealth of the richest 100 people in the world increased by $241 billion last year, reaching $1,900 billion, with an advance of 22% for the leader, Mexican Carlos Slim Helu to $75.2 billion, and 12.6% for the second richest, Bill Gates, to $62.7 billion.

The value of assets held by the richest 100 people in the world was calculated according to Bloomberg stock quotes and data available on December 31, 2012. The best sectors to increase their wealth for the richest people last year were retail and telecommunications, with an average growth of about 20%. Of the 100 wealthiest included in the Bloomberg index for 2012, only 16 had recorded a decrease in their wealth.

“Last year was very good for billionaires. In 2013 they will continue to seek investment opportunities globally, not necessarily in the U.S. that provide them an advantage,” said billionaire John Catsimatidis, owner of Red Apple Group.

Spaniard Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex retailer group, has seen the biggest increase in wealth, $22.2 billion, or 63%, to $57.5 billion. This rise was supported by Inditex shares that were up by 66.7% last year.

The top ten is completed by Warren Buffett with $47.9 billion (+12%), Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA) with $42.9 billion (+16.6%), Charles Koch, with $40.9 billion (+20.9%), David Koch, with $40.9 billion (+20.9%), Larry Ellison (Oracle), with $39.3 billion (+19.4%), Bernard Arnault, with $28.8 billion (+39%), and Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, with $28.7 billion(+65.2%).

Five of the top ten richest people in the world – Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Charles Koch, David Koch and Larry Ellison – are American.

Among those who lost in 2012 is the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. The wealth of Facebook chief went down by $5.2 billion last year due to a 30% stock decline of the company that operates the biggest social network site.

The wealth of U.S. investor George Soros increased by less than 2%, to $21.6 billion dollars, while Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, owner of football club Shakhtar Donetsk, has increased his wealth by 47.6%, to $21.2 billion.