A Bumper Crop of Billionaires

March 8, 2007 — -- In many ways, the world has got used to having less. We're burning up oil, cutting down forests, and enjoying fewer hours of free time in the hustle of everyday life. But there's one thing the world is getting more of these days: Billionaires.

Forbes Magazine harvested its 20th annual crop of the 10-digit super rich in this month's edition and found that 2007 produced a bumper yield of billionaires.

There are 946 people from 53 countries that were worth at least a thousand million of dollars as of February 9, 2006. That's the date that the Forbes editors picked to take the "snapshot" of wealth, freezing stock values and computing the list.

Since then, the world's markets have been roiled by big sell-offs, likely bumping some people from the billionaires club (one member's fortune dropped by 30 percent) but leaving most unscathed.

When it comes to wealth, the top of the Forbes list is, well, about as astounding as it comes. According to the magazine's editors, the top 20 fortunes when combined would top the half trillion dollar mark.

That's an average net worth of about $27 billion for all its members. One in five of this elite group is American, with the rest of the members coming from all over the world.

The average age is 64, and only one woman -- Liliane Bettencourt, heir to the L'Oréal beauty fortune -- counts herself a member.

Oh, and all but one saw their net worth increase last year. Poor Paul Allen took a hit after the Forbes editors recalculated his wealth.

1. Bill Gates (51, American, $56 billion) -- The megarich Microsoft founder has topped the Forbes list for 13 years.

2. Warren Buffett (76, American, $52 billion) -- This Oracle of Omaha saw his fortune increase by $10 billion in the past year.

3. Carlos Slim Helú (67, Mexican, $49 billion) -- Helú owns a big chunk of the telecom market in Mexico and saw his fortune grow by $19 billion last year. That's the biggest one-year gain in 10 years.

4. Ingvar Kamprad (80, Swedish, $33 billion) --