Net worth of world’s billionaires rises 17%

NEW YORK — What’s up by 16 percent? Billionaires.

A record 1,426 people around the world were counted in Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires, a 16-percent increase over last year’s tally.

Net worth of all the billionaires totaled $5.4 trillion, up 17.4 percent from the $4.6 trillion counted a year ago, according to the New York business magazine.

Rising stock markets worldwide and strong consumer demand for brands controlled by the wealthy contributed to the increase, Forbes reported.

Accounts of the magazine’s annual list were reported on Monday by press services throughout the world.

All told, 210 people made the list of the world’s wealthiest people for the first time.

Average net worth for all the billionaires was $3.8 billion, rising 3 percent from 2012.

How much money is $3.8 billion?

Well, spend $1,000 a day every day, and it would take more than 100 centuries to whittle $3.8 billion down to the final cent. And that’s not spending the interest the money amasses.

Last year, America was home to the most billionaires — 442 — followed by the Asia-Pacific region. Europe was third.

Mexico’s Carlos Slim remains the world’s richest man for the fourth year in a row. Bill Gates of Microsoft Corp. held on to second place with a net worth of $67 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett slipped to the fourth spot with a $53.5 billion net worth. Buffett was surpassed by Spanish clothier Amancio Ortega, who jumped two spots from

2012 with a net worth of $57 billion.

In Memphis, FedEx Corp. founder Frederick Smith has been ranked among the world’s wealthy in the low 700s with a net worth estimated at $2.1 billion. Nashville health care magnate Thomas Frist is tops in Tennessee at $4.8 billion.

Around the world, 138 women were listed, up from 2012’s 104. Liliane Bettencourt — whose fam- ily owns a stake in L’Oreal — is the world’s richest woman with a net worth of $30 billion.

Brazil’s Eike Batista had the biggest drop in his net worth, with it declining $19.4 billion from the previous year. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth fell to $13.3 billion from $17.5 billion. His ranking fell to No. 66 from No. 35 in 2012.

There were 60 people that dropped off the list entirely, including Zynga’s Mark Pincus and former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon.