Forbes rich list: Facebook six stake their claims
In the latest list of the world's billionaires, published by Forbes, no fewer than six made their money from Facebook. As members of the world's richest club, the Facebook six have become an elite within the super-elite.
Top of the list is Mark Zuckerberg, the social networking site's CEO and president, who helped to create it while at Harvard University. He ranks 52nd in the Forbes list, with a fortune estimated at $13.5bn.
His wealth, along with the other five, massively increased this year when Goldman Sachs arranged an injection of $1.5bn (£926m) in capital into the site, valuing the company, which remains private, at $50bn.
Next among the six comes Dustin Moskovitz, a co- founder. He is at $2.7bn – well behind Zuckerberg – although he has the satisfaction of having knocked Zuckerberg from his perch as the world's youngest billionaire. Moskovitz, a newcomer to the list as a result of the Goldman deal, was born on 22 May 1984, eight days after the Facebook supremo.
The remaining six include Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake in the film), who is put at $1.6bn, Peter Thiel ($1.5bn) and a Russian investor in the company, Yuri Milner ($1bn).
The final member of the group is Eduardo Saverin, whose falling out with Zuckerberg and the eventual lawsuit and settlement provided the dramatic core of The Social Network. Forbes estimates that the agreement that was reached makes Saverin worth $1.6bn.
"Shed no tears for Eduardo," says Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of the business magazine that bears his name. "If you do get to be thrown out, a billion dollars isn't a bad severance package."
Some features of the list remain comfortingly stable in a rapidly changing world. The top three names are unchanged, with Carlos Slim Hélu, the Mexican telecoms tycoon, unrivalled in the No 1 slot with a personal value of $74bn, an increase of more than $20bn.
The next two in the list – Microsoft's Bill Gates and the investor Warren Buffett – can only muster a lacklustre $56bn and $50bn respectively, but then they are both preoccupied with giving away most of their wealth to charitable causes.
Overall, Forbes reckons there are 1,210 billionaires in the world today, 214 more than last year. Another steady theme is the rise of Asia, particularly China. Asia has more billionaires (332) on the list than Europe (300).
The US hasn't done too badly this year – the number of American billionaires has risen by 10 to 413. Yet in the medium term its story is one of relative decline. Ten years ago the US accounted for fully half of the global billionaires; last year that proportion had fallen to about 40%. This year it stands at 34%.
There are 102 women on this year's list, up from 89. The richest is Christy Walton, widow of John Walton, son of Sam Walton, who founded the US retail giant Walmart.
source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/
i'm not in it anymore sir.. :(
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