By Business & Finance 
Bill Gates was once again on top as the world’s richest person on Forbes’ 30th annual ranking of the world’s billionaires, while Irishmen Denis O’Brien, Dermot Desmond and Martin Naughton also made the list.
Gates has topped the list for 17 of the last 22 years, with a current net worth of $75bn, down from $79.2bn in 2015.
The Forbes Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth taken on Feb 12, 2016, when stock prices and exchange rates were locked in from around the world. It lists individuals worth on average a minimum of $1bn.
Spanish clothing retailer Amancio Ortega, best known for the Zara fashion chain is up two spots to number two and increased his net worth $2.5bn for a total of $67bn.
1,810 billionaires made the 2016 with an aggregate net worth of $6.48tn, down from $7.05 trillion from last year. Roughly two-thirds of the list are self-made billionaires. 228 inherited their wealth; another 396 inherited at least a portion but are still growing it.
The biggest gainer on the 2016 list is Mark Zuckerburg, whose fortune is up $11.2bn for a total net worth of $44.6bn. He is the sixth richest in the world. The biggest loser was Carlos Slim Helú, whose fortune dropped from $77.1bn in 2015 to $50bn this year.
The total number of women on the list is 190, down from 197 in 2015. The richest being Liliane Bettencourt of France who stands at number 11 on the list.
The industry with the most newcomers is manufacturing with 39 billionaires, followed by real estate and technology with 21 apiece.
The US led with the greatest number of billionaires, with 540, followed by China with 251, Germany with 120 and India with 84.
American-born Irish John Grayken, who grew up in a suburb south of Boston and renounced his US citizenship years ago, is now the second-richest private equity mogul in the world with an estimated net worth of $6.3bn.
Forbes reports that Grayken’s Lone Star Funds, which is 100% owned by Grayken, now manages $64bn and is delivering returns by investing in distressed assets linked to real estate that often result in major controversies in the countries in which Grayken operates, from the US to Germany and Korea.
US-born Dublin-resident and Campbell’s soup heir, John Dorrance and Indian construction magnate Palloni Mistry, who holds Irish citizenship, also made the list.
Photo: OnInnovation
Forbes Billionaires list 2016 top 10
1 Bill Gates, $75bn, Microsoft, US
2 Amancio Ortega, $67bn, Retail, Spain
3 Warren Buffett, $60.8bn, Berkshire Hathaway, US
4 Carlos Slim Helú and family, $50bn, Telecom, Mexico
5 Jeff Bezos, $45.2bn, Amazon.com, US
6 Mark Zuckerberg, $44.6bn, Facebook, US
7 Larry Ellison, $43.6bn, Oracle, US
8 Michael Bloomberg, $40bn, Bloomberg LP, US
9 Charles Koch, $39.6bn, Diversified, US
9 David Koch, $39.6bn, Diversified US
