Photographs: Edgard Garrido/Reuters.
The number of billionaires has reached a record high of 1,426 with a net worth $5.4 trillion, says Forbes.
The United States has more billionaires than any other country.
Take a look at the world's 30 richest people...
Carlos Slim Helu & family (Rank 1)
Carlos Slim Helu is a Mexican business tycoon, investor, and philanthropist. Slim has been ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world since 2010.
Presently, he is the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telmex and America Movil.
Net worth: $73 billion
Age: 73
Country: Mexico
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Photographs: Pascal Lauener/Reuters.
Bill Gates (Rank 2)
Bill Gates is the former chief executive and current chairman of Microsoft, one of the world's biggest software companies, which he co-founded with Paul Allen.
He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people.
Net worth: $67 billion
Age: 57
Country: United States
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Photographs: Miguel Vidal/Reuters.
Amancio Ortega (Rank 3)
Amancio Ortega Gaona is a Spanish fashion executive and founding chairman of the Inditex fashion group, best known for its chain of Zara clothing and accessories retail shops.
Net worth: $57 billion
Age: 76
Country: Spain
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Photographs: Nati Harnik/Pool/Reuters.
Warren Buffett (Rank 4)
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Considered one of the most successful investors, Buffett is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Net worth: $53.5 billion
Age: 82
Country: United States
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Photographs: Robert Galbraith/Reuters.
Larry Ellison (Rank 5)
Larry Ellison is the co-founder and chief executive of Oracle Corporation, one of the world's leading enterprise software companies.
Net worth: $43 billion
Age: 68
Country: United States
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Charles Koch (Rank 6)
Age: 77
Net worth: $34 billion
Country: United States
David Hamilton Koch is an American businessman, philanthropist, political activist, and chemical engineer.
He is a co-owner (with older brother Charles) and an executive vice president of Koch Industries, a conglomerate that is the second-largest privately held company in the United States.
David Koch (Rank 6)
Age: 72
Net worth: $34 billion
Country: United States
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Photographs: Tyrone Siu/Reuters.
Li Ka-Shing (Rank 8)
Li Ka-shing is considered to be the richest person in Asia. Presently, he is the chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) and Cheung Kong Holdings.
Net worth: $31 billion
Age: 84
Country: Hong Kong
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Photographs: Benoit Tessier/Reuters.
Liliane Bettencourt & family (Rank 9)
Liliane Henriette is one of the principal shareholders of L'Oreal.
Net worth: $30 billion
Age: 90
Country: France
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Photographs: Valentin Flauraud/Reuters.
Bernard Arnault & family (Rank 10)
Bernard Arnault, is the founder and chairman of luxury goods outfit, LVMH
Net worth: $29 billion
Age: 63
Country: France
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Christy Walton & family (Rank 11)
Christy Walton, the widow of John Walton, inherited her wealth from her husband after he died in an airplane accident in Wyoming 2005.
Net worth: $28.2 billion
Age: 58
Country: United States
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Photographs: Jurek Holzer/SvD/Scanpix/Reuters.
Stefan Persson (Rank 12)
Stefan Persson is current chairman and main shareholder in fashion company H&M, which was founded by his father Erling Persson in 1947. Stefan took over the company in 1982 and served as its chief executive officer until 1998.
Net worth: $28 billion
Age: 65
Country: Sweden
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Photographs: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters.
Michael Bloomberg (Rank 13)
Michael Rubens Bloomberg, the current Mayor of New York City is also the 7th-richest person in the United States. He is the founder of Bloomberg, global financial data and media company.
Net worth: $27 billion
Age: 71
Country: United States
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Jim Walton (Rank 14)
James Carr Walton is the youngest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and the Chairman of Arvest Bank.
Net worth: $26.7 billion
Age: 65
Country: United States
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Photographs: Tyrone Siu/Reuters.
Sheldon Adelson (Rank 15)
Sheldon Gary Adelson, an American business magnate is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
Net worth: $26.5 billion
Age: 79
Country: United States
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Photographs: Jacob Slaton/Reuters
Alice Walton (Rank 16)
Alice Walton is an American heiress to the fortune of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. She is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and Helen Walton.
Net worth: $26.3 billion
Age: 63
Country: United States
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Robson Walton (Rank 17)
Robson Walton is the eldest son of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, the world's largest retailer.
Net worth: $26.1 billion
Age: 69
Country: United States
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Photographs: Thomas Peter/Reuters.
Karl Albrecht (Rank 18)
Karl Albrecht, Germany's richest man, owns discount-supermarket giant Aldi Sud.
Net worth: $26 billion
Age: 93
Country: Germany
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Photographs: Gus Ruelas/Reuters.
Jeff Bezos (Rank 19)
Jeff Bezos played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Inc., an online merchant of books and later of a wide variety of products.
Net worth: $25.2 billion
Age: 49
Country: United States
Meet the World's 30 richest people
Photographs: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters.
Larry Page (Rank 20)
Larry Page along with Sergey Brin co-founded Google. On April 4, 2011, he took over as the chief executive officer of Google.
Net worth: $23 billion
Age: 39
Country: United States
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Photographs: Rick Wilking/Reuters.
Sergey Brin (Rank 21)
Sergey Brin co-founded Google, one of the most profitable Internet companies.
Net worth: $22.8 billion
Age: 39
Country: United States
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Photographs: Reuters.
Mukesh Ambani (Rank 22)
India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani is the chairman and CEO of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries.
Net worth: $21.5 billion
Age: 55
Country: India
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Michele Ferrero and family (Rank 23)
Michele Ferrero, the owner of chocolate maker Ferrero SpA, is Italy's richest person.
Net worth: $20.4 billion
Age: 87
Country: Italy
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Photographs: Fred Greenslade/Reuters.
Lee Shau Kee (Rank 24)
Lee Shau Kee is a real estate tycoon and majority owner of Henderson Land Development, a property conglomerate with interests in properties, hotels, restaurants and internet services.
Net worth: $20.3 billion
Country: Hong Kong
David Thomson & family (Rank 24)
David Thomson, Canadian media magnate is the chairman of Thomson Reuters.
Net worth: $20.3 billion
Age: 55
Country: Canada
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Photographs: Paul Hackett/Reuters.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud (Rank 26)
Al Waleed Bin Talal is a Saudi Arabian business tycoon and investor. He is the founder and CEO of Kingdom Holding Company
Net worth: $20 billion
Age: 57
Country: Saudi Arabia
Carl Icahn (Rank 26)
Carl Icahn is an American business magnate and majority shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a diversified holding company.
Net worth: $20 billion
Age: 77
Country: United States
Thomas & Raymond Kwok & family (Rank 26)
Raymond Kwok Ping Luen is the joint-chairman and managing director of Sun Hung Kai Properties, the largest property developer in Hong Kong.
He is the youngest son of Kwok Tak Seng, and younger brother Thomas Kwok, another joint-chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties.
The Kwok brothers are the third wealthiest people in Hong Kong.
Net worth: $20 billion
Age: 77
Country: Hong Kong
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Meet the World's 30 richest people
Photographs: Reuters.
Dieter Schwarz (Rank 29)
Dieter Schwarz is a German entrepreneur and owner of the Schwarz-Gruppe. He is the chairman and CEO of supermarket chain Lidl, which he inherited from his father, Josef Schwarz, in 1977.
Net worth: $19.5 billion
Age: 77
Country: Germany
George Soros (Rank 30)
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management.
Net worth: $19.2 billion
Age: 82
Country: Germany
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