Richest Man In World

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Designs World's Tallest Skyscraper

It will probably be quite some time before another supertall skyscraper is built in this city, but Chicago architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill has been hired to design the tallest building in the world. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, currently the world's 26th richest man, announced plans to build a kilometer-tall tower Jeddah. Dubbed Kingdom Tower , the knife-like structure has a sharply tapered design, somewhat similar to the 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa , which was also designed by Smith. "With its slender, subtly asymmetrical massing, the tower evokes a bundle of leaves shooting up from the ground—a burst of new life that heralds more growth all around it," said Smith, quoted in a press release. Those are some very pointy leaves. Design development is currently underway, according to the release, and construction is to begin "imminently.

Forbes: The Richest People in the World 2011 - DailyFinance

25Th year of tracking global wealth and it was one to remember. The 2011 Billionaires List breaks two records: total number of listees (1,210) and combined wealth ($4.5 trillion). This horde surpasses the gross domestic product of Germany, one of only six nations to have fewer billionaires this year. BRICs led the way: Brazil, Russia, India and China produced 108 of the 214 new names. These four nations are home to one-in-four members, up from one-in-ten five years ago. Before this year, only the U.S. had ever produced more than 100 billionaires. China now has 115 and Russia 101. Atop the heap is Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu, who added $20.5 billion to his fortune, more than any other billionaire. The telecom mogul, who gets 62% of his fortune from America Movil, is now worth $74 billion and has pulled far ahead of his two closest rivals. Bill Gates, No. 2, and Warren Buffett, No. 3, both added a more modest $3 billion to their piles and are now worth $56 billion and $50 billion, respectively. Gates, who now gets 70% of his fortune from investments outside of Microsoft, has actually been investing in the Mexican stock market and has holdings in Mexican Coke bottler Femsa and Grupo Televisa. [Scroll down to the see list of World's 10 Richest.] While nearly all emerging markets showed solid gains, wealth creation is moving at an especially breakneck speed in Asia-Pacific. The region now has a record 332 billionaires, up from 234 a year ago and 130 at the depth of the financial crisis in 2009. Sizzling stock markets are behind the surge. Three-fourths of Asia's 105 newcomers get the bulk of their fortunes from stakes in publicly traded companies, 25 of which have been public only since the start of 2010. America's wealthiest still dominate the global ranks, but the U.S. is losing its grip. One-in-three billionaires is an American, down from nearly one-out-of-two a decade ago. It has 10 more than last year but 56 fewer than its 2008 peak. The U.S. is adding new billionaires at a much slower pace; just 6% of its 413 billionaires are new this year compared with 47% of China's and 30% of Russia's. Still there are plenty of inspiring newcomers who figured out clever ways to get rich. The most obvious example is the success of Facebook, whose soaring valuation over the past couple of years -- based on the most recent institutional round the company is worth $50 billion -- has spawned six billionaires.

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