Five Armenians included in Forbes 2015 World’s Billionaires list

PanARMENIAN.Net - Five Armenians were included in Forbes 2015 World’s Billionaires list released on March 2.

Sergei Galitsky (162nd) was named the world’s richest Armenian with an estimated net worth of $8.3 billion. Other Armenians on the list include Kirk Kerkorian (393rd), Samvel Karapetyan (418th), Eduardo Eurnekian (1006th), and Danil Khachaturov (1190th). Sergei Sarkisov and Nikolai Sarkisov (both ranked 1465th last year) have dropped out of the ranks.

According to Forbes, despite plunging oil prices and a weakened euro, the ranks of the world’s wealthiest defied global economic turmoil and expanded yet again. For the 29th annual guide to the globe’s richest, the Forbes has found a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago. The total includes 290 newcomers, 71 of whom hail from China. Youth are on the rise: A record 46 among the ranks are under age 40.

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 shares to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2014. Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico comes in again at No. 2 while revered American investor Warren Buffett took back the No. 3 spot from Spain’s Amancio Ortega (now No. 4).

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg moves up 5 spots to number 16, his first time ranked among the world’s 20 richest. Zuckerberg is also the leader in a youth revolution that has minted 46 billionaires under the age of 40. The youngest billionaire on the planet is Evan Spiegel, 24, co-founder of photo- messaging app Snapchat.