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THE WORLD’S RICHEST person got even richer this year. And a basketball superstar-turned-owner made the list for the first time.
Forbes says Bill Gates’s net worth rose to $79.2 billion (€70.8 billion) in 2015 from $76 billion last year.
That put him at the top of the magazine’s list of the world’s billionaires for the second consecutive year. The co-founder of Microsoft Corporation has topped the list for 16 of the last 21 years.
Irish citizenship
So who else made the cut?
Of those with Irish citizenship is Pallonji Mistry, who chairs India-based construction giant, Shapoorji Pallonji Group.
He ranked at 55, with $16.3 billion. Telecom and media tycoon Denis O’Brien is ranked at 199 with $6.8 billion.
In second place is Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu, with a net worth of $77.1 billion. He had topped the list in 2013.
Next is investor Warren Buffett, who moved up one slot this year with a net worth of $72.7 billion.
In fourth place was Amancio Ortega, the Spanish co-founder of clothing retail chain Zara, with a net worth of $64.5 billion. Rounding out the top five was Larry Ellison, founder of technology company Oracle Corporation, with $54.3 billion.
Forbes said there were 1,826 billionaires on its list this year, up from 1,645 in 2014. Added together, they were worth a combined $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion last year.
Women
Most of those on the list were men. But there were 197 women, up from 172 a year ago. The highest-ranking woman was Christy Walton, the widow of John Walton, a son of the founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. She has a net worth of $41.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg jumped five places on the list, gaining $4.9 billion since 2014.
The world’s youngest billionaire was 24-year-old Evan Spiegel, the CEO and co-founder of mobile messaging company Snapchat, with a net worth of $1.5 billion. Snapchat’s other co-founder, 25-year-old Bobby Murphy, had the same net worth as Spiegel.
Other tech billionaire newcomers were two co-founders of taxi-ordering app Uber and one of its executives. Three co-founders of Airbnb, the vacation-home rental website, also made the list.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan joined the list for the first time this year, thanks to his ownership in basketball team Charlotte Hornets and payouts from his Nike brand. Jordan had a net worth of $1 billion, the magazine said.
This is the 29th year that Forbes has released its billionaires list. The magazine said it calculated each person’s wealth based on stock prices and exchange rates on Feb. 13, 2015.
Additional reporting Christina Finn
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What about the board member who was forced to step down by all the current board numbers over making the public aware of this in the first place. Will he now be appointed back to the board as it is quite clear he is a man with a moral compass and a ackbone
@Chris Turner: backbone
@Chris Turner: Most likely not. A moral compass and a backbone are surplus to requirements.
What’s the catch ?
@Catherine Mc: Indeed, its way too smooth for my liking..
@Jonny Irish:
Strange, I wouldn’t trust either government or sister’s of charity.
Interesting development but you can be sure as long as a Fine Gael government are involved there will be profits made for private investors at the expense of the Irish state. They just can’t help themselves.
The National Maternity Hospital showed be owned by the State.
I find this very suspect what’s the catch there’s no way nuns are giving in unless their ideology is protected. Also I hope this doesn’t mean that st Michaels existence is at risk. Small hospitals always seem to be target’s
It’s a pity all the people on this were not looking for “The Catch” when the Sisters looked to have the hospital built in 1834.
@Padraig Corcoran: wow, were any of the posters alive in the 1830′s. Perhaps you could look at where the money came from and then comment. Congregations of nuns made profits on the backs of young girls, selling babies and other disgusting practices.
@Paul Fahey: don’t go telling the truth now , you’ll upset the zealots
@Paul Fahey: very literal there Paul. Every citizen of the state was responsible for what happened women and babies in this country.
@Padraig Corcoran: no they were not, but you convince yourself of that to protect your religious masters. No relative of mine ever raped, murdered or sold a child for profit; to the contrary my grandfather was born in a mother and baby home and they beat the shit out of him until they sold him as a farm labourer, aged 8. None of my family were gifted thousands of acres of public land, which they continue to sell for profit until this day. None of my relatives have been bequeathed property and monies by thousands of elderly folk, because they were told it would gain them access to heaven and eternal life, only for them to continue to sell those lands for profit until this day.
@Padraig Corcoran: I think you had a slight misprint there ? I don’t think many were around in 1834….
The Sister of Brutality ,sorry Charity .will be getting millions of Euro ,and as a charity will pay no taxes ,While the main party politicians and the media will praise this “outcome ” What a load of bullshit
Who are the new owners? Would they by any chance be private individuals who are also members of the same Sisters of Charity order and who are holding the property in trust for the Sisters of Charity. Just wondering since nobody has declared who the new owner is and what price the property fetched, Sisters of Charity merely state that they have relinquished control of the property! That may sound crazy but a similar scenario occurred with the transfer of a Cork hospital property some years ago when a congregation of nuns transferred it to some individuals who are members of the same congregation, it’s a handy way of concealing property when it could be valued as means when compensation awards are involved.
We need to get rid of all relegious involvement in this state.
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