Dangote Remains Africa's Richest Man

Alhaji Aliko Dangote has remained Africa's richest man despite his
losses to the devaluation of the Naira and drops in the demand for
cement his largest asset.

According toForbesmargazine, Dangote was this "year's biggest loser in
dollar terms as his fortune dropped to $14.7 billion from $25 billion
last year, propelled downward by a weaker Naira and shrinking demand
for cement, his largest asset. He still retains the title of Africa's
richest man.

The country that has lost the most ground by far was Russia, which now
has 88 billionaires down from 111, less than not just the US and China
but now also Germany and India.

According to Forbes' Inside The 2015 Forbes Billionaires List: Facts
And Figures, Bill Gates is once again the richest person on the
planet, a title he's held for 16 of the past 21 years.

His fortune grew $3.2 billion since last year to $79.2 billion,
despite a gift of $1.5 billion in Microsoft MSFT +0.66 per cent shares
to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2014.

Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico comes in again at number two while revered
American investor, Warren Buffett, took back the number three spot
from Spain's Amancio Ortega (now number four); not even the largest
IPO in history was enough to beat the Oracle of Omaha this year.

Buffett was the list's biggest gainer, up $14.5 billion to $72.7
billion, thanks to Berkshire Hathaway's rising share price. Facebook's
Mark Zuckerberg moves up five spots to number 16, his first time
ranked among the world's 20 richest. Ma and three other Chinese are
among the the biggest gainers and appear among the 50 richest on the
list.

Zuckerberg is also the leader in a youth revolution that has minted 46
billionaires under the age of 40.

Youngest billionaire

"The youngest billionaire on the planet is Evan Spiegel, 24,
co-founder of photo- messaging app Snapchat. California, driven by
Silicon Valley tech companies, has spawned 23 new billionaires,
including cofounders of car-hailing service Uber cofounders Travis
Kalanick and Garrett Camp, and their first employee Ryan Graves.
Elizabeth Holmes, who runs blood-testing firm Theranos, debuts on the
global list as the youngest self-made woman at age 31. The state now
has 131 individuals with 10-figure net worths, more than any other
country besides China and the US.

Dangote

"The year's biggest loser in dollar terms is Aliko Dangote of
Nigeria, whose fortune dropped to $14.7 billion from $25 billion last
year, propelled downward by a weaker Nigerian currency and shrinking
demand for cement, his largest asset. He still retains the title of
Africa's richest man.

The country that has lost the most ground by far was Russia, which now
has 88 billionaires down from 111, less than not just the U.S. and
China but now also Germany and India.

"One hundred thirty-eight people from the 2014 list dropped out of the
ranks altogether including fashion designer, Michael Kors, Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko, Zulily's Mark Vadon and many Russians.

Guatemala has a billionaire for the first time, and Iceland returns to
the ranks after a five-year absence, the result of a comeback by Thor
Bjorgolfsson, who's now the only billionaire in Iceland's history.
--Vanguard