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◆The World's Billionaires
Edited by Luisa Kroll and Matthew Miller
Carlos Slim Helu takes the No. 1 spot on Forbes' annual list of the world's richest as a record 164 billionaires return to the ranking amid the global economic recovery.

Slumdog Billionaires
Megha Bahree
A father and son are making a fortune rehabbing some of the worst neighborhoods in Mumbai. It's not a pretty business.

High-Rise Anxiety
Gady Epstein
Zhang Xin and her husband are the most familiar faces of a real estate boom in China. That doesn't make them a popular couple.

Big Man In Brazil
Keren Blankfeld
Eike Batista rode the commodities boom to become the richest guy in his country. He aims to keep going.

The Hard Man of Russia
Anita Raghavan
Already big in steel, Alisher Usanov can now claim to be his nation's largest player on the Web.

Pay Czech Lender
Tatiana Serafin
Petr Kellner brings consumer finance to not-so-communist Asia.

Hollywood Heavyweight
Keren Blankfeld
Arnon Milchan has made it big in pictures--as well as in arms sales, investing and fertilizer.

None Of Your Business
Kai Falkenberg
Do rich folk get special treatment regarding the privacy of their court cases? A case study involves the chairman of Estee Lauder.

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◆The World's Richest People

Chinese Tigresses
Russell Flannery
Seven self-made female Billionaires have struck it rich on China's mainland.

Double Shot
Steven Bertoni
Billionaires benefit from surging currencies and rising stock markets.

In Pictures: Biggest Billionaire Gainers
Katie Evans
Several of last year's biggest losers are this year's biggest gainers.

In Pictures: The Richest People In The World
Luisa Kroll and Matthew Miller
These titans control entire swaths of the global economy, from energy and steel to fashion and telecom.

Dumb Money
Dirk Smilie
Sailing on soda bottles. Cloning cats. Creating clouds from seawater. Not all investments by the tech wealthy pan out.

Biggest Billionaire Comebacks
Claire Obusan
A record 164 moguls return to the ranks after having fallen off. Here are the year's top 10 richest returnees.

In Pictures: Cost Of Living Large
Claire Obusan
A look at how these cities compare when it comes to living the billionaire lifestyle.

Middle Eastern Mirage
Devon Pendleton
Dubai's spectacular collapse has destroyed vast fortunes and exposed the dangers of doing business in the Golf. What have investors learned?

Back on Top
Duncan Greenberg
Hedge fund managers who made a big comeback.

Nonrefundable Deposit
Keren Blankfeld
How Mikhail Prokhorov's $53 million house payment became a charitable donation.

In Pictures: Billionaire Drop-Offs
Steven Bertoni
Not everybody got richer during the global recovery.

Obituaries: Remembering 13 Billionaires Who Died
Cristina von Zeppelin
Thirteen billionaires have died since we published our 2009 list.