Patriciu, the only Romanian billionaire on the Forbes Top

The news is that Bill Gates returns to the list’s top spot, occupied last year by Buffett, after Gates was recognized as the world’s richest man for 13 years.

The three billionaires who have dominated the Forbes top for years continue to be the same – Microsoft’s founder, Bill Gates, American investor Warren Buffett, and Mexican Carlos Slim, working in the field of telecommunications. However, all three suffered substantial losses. Gates still has $40 bln of the $58 bln he had in 2008, Buffett has $37 bln of $62 bln, while Slim’s fortune was cut by almost half, to $35 bln from $60 bln.

There are 793 billionaires worldwide, compared to 1,125 in 2008. Their total wealth plunged $2,000 bln compared to March 2008, according to the 2009 top.