India makes inroads in Forbes billionaire list

List is a "deceptive distraction," says Mukesh Ambani

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"The reason for this explosion in wealth is that we're in the midst of a phenomenal global boom. Never before in human history have so many people in so many parts of the world advanced so quickly economically as has happened in recent years," Forbes said.

By nationality, the US still boasts of largest number of billionaires (469), though interestingly, Buffett and Gates are the only two Americans to feature in the top 10 list which boasts of one Mexican (second-placed Carlos Slim Helu) four Indians (Lakshmi N. Mittal, Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani and K.P. Singh who are placed fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth respectively), a Swede (Ingvar Kamprad who is placed seventh), a Russian (Oleg Deripaska who is placed ninth) and a German (Karl Albrecht who is placed tenth).

While Russia replaces Germany (59) as the No.2 country with 87 billionaires, India is home to 53 billionaires on the list, thanks to a booming economy.

Rival China has 42 billionaires, followed by Turkey with 35 billionaires.

Hong Kong has 26 billionaires, 2 more than Japan, the second largest economy in the world.

According to Forbes, in a first, Moscow has replaced New York City as home to the most billionaires. There are now 74 billionaires in the one-time Communist capital, compared with 71 in the Big Apple.

London (36), Istanbul (34), and Hong Kong (30) round up the top five.

Just as 2008 list saw several new names being added, it also saw a dramatic fall in fortune of some people, viz. Starbucks chief Howard Schultz, whose stock dragged him off the list all together, and Spanish property billionaire Enrique Banuelos, whose wealth plunged from $7.7 billion dollars last year to $1.3 billion in 2008.

The list also saw the average age of billionaires fall by one year to 61, helped by an influx of younger Russians and Chinese, 50 of them under 40.

Meanwhile, the number of women billionaires in 2008 has grown to 99, up from 87 last year, but only 10 percent of them are self-made, Forbes said.

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