Other newsmakers on the list include Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Helu, who is pumping millions into an effort to rejuvenate Mexico City and has hired former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani to help solve its crime problem; Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The economic pain has been acute in Asia, where the number of billionaires fell to 61, down 50 percent from the peak in 1996.
Europe has 134 billionaires, up from 121 last year. Russia has 10 new billionaires, thanks to higher oil prices, a 38 percent rise in stocks and a trend toward corporate transparency that has made it easier to identify the wealthiest Russians. Three years ago there were no Russians listed; now there are 17.
Few fortunes are made in a hurry. The average age on the list is 64, but there are 25 billionaires under 40. The richest remains computer company founder Michael Dell, 38, who fell six places to 24, with a net worth of US$9.8 billion.
The youngest is Germany's Albert von Thurn und Taxis, who inherited his US$1.5 billion portion of one of the world's oldest fortunes when he turned 18 last year. He is 19 now.
The 37 women on the list were led by Alice Walton and her mother Helen Walton, whose equal US$16.5 billion portions of the Wal-Mart fortune landed them in 7th place.
Oprah is the third self-made woman to ever make the list. The others are Doris Fisher of the Gap, who remains on the list, and Martha Stewart, who was on in 2000 and then lost her position.
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