Forbes India - Apr 02, 2010 Issue

ISSUE DATE Apr 02, 2010

Forbes Billionaires List

Thanks to booming world markets, fortunes across the world have enjoyed widespread wins, with several more billionaires on the Forbes list than the previous year and dozens of newcomers. There are 1,011 billionaires on the list, up from 793 a year ago. And there's a new name at the top: Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu. The telecom tycoon supplants Bill Gates. Asia made big gains, adding 104 billionaires - Pakistan made its entry into the list with one billionaire and China, India and South Korea doubled the number of billionaires they have. For the first time, China (including Hong Kong) has the most billionaires outside the US.

On Two Wings and a Prayer

When Azim Premji installed two CEOs to lead the same business two years ago, colleagues were aghast. Many wondered if it was a compromise because he could not find one capable leader. But the experiment seems to have succeeded - Wipro posted a strong performance over the two years. The experience has given Premji enough confidence to replicate the joint CEO structure in several other ventures.

Ambani's Problem of Plenty

Unlike others in the oil business, cash is not the problem for Mukesh Ambani. Over the next couple of years, RIL is expected to generate $25 billion in excess cash. And it is sitting on another $2 billion (approx.) after sale of treasury stock over the last three months. What do you do with all this money?

Big Man in Brazil

Six years ago Eike Batista swore he'd become Brazil's richest man. Now he is: With a net worth of $27 billion, two-thirds of that gained over the last 12 months, he's on his way to arriving at his latest boastful goal, becoming the world's wealthiest guy. All his companies' names feature an 'X', which is meant to suggest multiplication of wealth. He almost always lives up to the promise.