According to Forbes, the personal wealth of the world's richest people is growing continuously. In the 2004 rankings, only 313 people had a fortune greater than US$1 billion, and this figure climbed to 374 in 2005. In the latest rankings, all the top 500 are billionaires.

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corporation, retains first place with $53 billion, the thirteenth consecutive time he has taken out the title for the world's richest person. His business partner Paul Allen ranked 5th with $16 billion. Larry Ellison, Oracle's president and CEO, is in 4th place with $19.5 billion, followed by Michael Dell, founder and chairman of Dell Inc., in 9th place with $15.5 billion. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin took out 12th and 13th places.

By People's Daily Online