Undeniably, many people are always enthralled by the lives of wealthy personalities and are always interested about knowing how they have actually succeed. For over twenty six years now, Forbes, a famous business magazine, has been following the lives of these world renowned wealthy personalities. In 2012, Carlos Slim Helu was again hailed as the richest man in the world after losing out Bill Gates in 2010, the cofounder of Microsoft, by a difference of $500 million. After Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, the owner of Berkshire Hathaway gets into the list. Their wealth is actually based on their company’s profit, and its net worth and shares in the market.

Below is the top twenty list of the world’s richest people as of 2012:

No. 1 Carlos Slim Helú

Net Worth:$69  billion – As of March 2012
Source: Telecom , Age: 72 , Citizenship: Mexico

No. 2 Bill Gates

Net Worth:$66 billion – As of September 2012
Source: Microsoft, self-made , Age: 56 , Citizenship: U.S.

No. 3 Warren Buffett

Net Worth:$46 billion – As of September 2012
Source: Berkshire Hathaway, self-made , Age: 82 , Citizenship: U.S.

No. 4 Larry Ellison

Net Worth:$41 billion – As of September 2012
Source: Oracle, self-made , Age: 68 , Citizenship: U.S.

No. 4 Bernard Arnault

Net Worth:$41 billion – As of March 2012
Source: LVMH, inherited and growing , Age: 63 , Citizenship: France

No. 6 Amancio Ortega

Net Worth:$37.5 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Zara, self-made , Age: 75 , Citizenship: Spain

No. 7 Charles Koch (tie)

Net Worth:$31 billion – As of September 2012
Source: Diversified, inherited and growing , Age: 76, Citizenship: United States

No. 7 David Koch (tie)

Net Worth:$31 billion – As of September 2012
Source: Diversified, inherited and growing , Age: 71 , Citizenship: United States

No. 9 Eike Batista

Net Worth:$30 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Mining, oil, self-made , Age: 55 , Citizenship: Brazil

No. 10 Christy Walton & family

Net Worth:$27.9 billion – As of September 2012
Source: Walmart, inherited , Age: 57 , Citizenship: U.S.

No. 11 Jim Walton

Net Worth:$26.8 billion – As of September 2012
Source of Wealth: Walmart, inherited , Age: 64 , Citizenship: United States

No. 12 Alice Walton

Net Worth:$26.3 billion – As of March 2012
Source of Wealth: Walmart, inherited , Age: 62 , Citizenship: United States

No. 13 R. Robson Walton

Net Worth: $26.1 billion – As of September 2012
Source of Wealth: Walmart, inherited , Age: 68 , Citizenship: United States

No. 14 Stefan Persson

Net Worth:$26 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Hennes & Mauritz , Age: 64 , Citizenship: Sweden

No. 15 Li Ka-shing

Net Worth:$25.5 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Diversified, self-made , Age: 83 , Citizenship: Hong Kong

No. 16 Karl Albrecht

Net Worth:$25.4 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Aldi, self-made , Age: 92 , Citizenship: Germany

No. 17 Michael Bloomberg

Net Worth:$25 billion – As of September 2012
Source: Bloomberg PL, self-made , Age: 70 , Citizenship: USA

No. 18 Liliane Bettencourt

Net Worth: $24 billion – As of March 2012
Source: L’Oreal, inherited , Age: 89, Citizenship: France

No. 19 Jeff Bezos

Net Worth:$23.2 billion – As of September 2012
Source of Wealth: Amazon.com, self-made , Age: 48, Citizenship: United States

No. 20 Mukesh Ambani

Net Worth:$22.3 billion – As of March 2012
Source: petrochemicals, oil & gas, inherited and growing, Age: 54 , Citizenship: India