The Americas. (cover story)

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Author: von Zeppelin, CristinaSerafin, TatianaHoppough, SuzanneMinami, KiyoeCoster, HelenDolan, Kerry A.Flan

The number of Brazilian billionaires doubled, helping spark a 36% rise in the region's net worth.

                                                      A: New
                                                      B: Up
                                                      C: Down
                                                      D: Same
                                                      E: Returnee
                                                      F: Split fortune
                                    NET
                                   WORTH
Rank  Name Country                 ($BIL)  Source              AGE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3     Carlos Slim Helu Mexico       30.0   telecom              66   B

9     Kenneth Thomson & fam         19.6   publishing           82   B
      Canada

59    Galen Weston & fam Canada      8.4   retail               65   C

69    Joseph & Moise Safra Brazil    7.4   banking              --   B

106   James, Arthur & John Irving    5.5   oil                  --   B
      Canada

114   Gustavo Cisneros & fam         5.0   media                60   D
      Venezuela

114   Jeffrey Skoll Canada           5.0   Ebay                 41   D

125   Lorenzo Mendoza & fam          4.9   beverages            40   B
      Venezuela

134   Jeronimo Arango Mexico         4.6   retail               80   B

136   Julio M Santo Domingo          4.5   beer, diversified    82   B
      Colombia

140   Luis Carlos Sarmiento          4.4   banking              73   B
      Colombia

158   Eliodoro Matte & fam Chile     4.1   paper                60   B

174   Paul Desmarais Canada          3.8   finance              79   B

174   Aloysio de Andrade Faria       3.8   banking              85   B
      Brazil

181   Anacleto Angelini Chile        3.7   energy               92   B

181   Bernard (Barry) Sherman        3.7   drugs                64   B
      Canada

194   Jim Pattison Canada            3.5   diversified          77   C

200   Jorge Paulo Lemann Brazil      3.4   banking              66   B

214   Antonio Ermirio de Moraes &    3.2   diversified          77   B
      fam Brazil

221   Ricardo Salinas Pliego &       3.1   retail, media        50   B
      fam Mexico

224   Robert Miller Canada           3.0   Future Electronics   60   A

224   Edward Rogers Canada           3.0   media                72   B

245   Alberto Bailleres Mexico       2.8   mining               73   B

258   Charles Bronfman Canada        2.7   liquor               74   C

317   Emanuele Saputo & fam          2.4   dairy                69   B
      Canada

335   Wallace McCain Canada          2.3   food                 76   B

365   Michael Lee-Chin Canada        2.1   mutual funds         55   C

382   Maria Aramburuzabala & fam     2.0   beer                 42   B
      Mexico

382   Roberto Hernandez Ramirez      2.0   bunking              64   D
      Mexico

382   Clayton Riddell Canada         2.0   oil & gas            68   A

428   Lorenzo Zambrano & fam         1.8   cement               62   C
      Mexico

451   Emilio Azcarraga Jean          1.7   media                38   B
      Mexico

451   Gregorio Perez Companc &       1.7   oil & gas            71   D
      fam Argentina

486   Julio Bozano Brazil            1.6   banking              70   D

486   Abilio dos Santos Diniz        1.6   supermarkets         69   B
      Brazil

486   Daryl Katz Canada              1.6   pharmacies           44   D

486   Alexander Shnaider Canada      1.6   steel                37   B

512   Jean Coutu Canada              1.5   pharmacies           78   C

512   Stephen Jarislowsky Canada     1.5   asset mgmt           80   B

512   Marcel Telles Brazil           1.5   beer                 56   B

562   N Murray Edwards Canada        1.4   oil & gas            46   A

562   Alfredo Harp Helu Mexico       1.4   banking              62   C

562   Guy Laliberte Canada           1.4   Cirque du Soleil     46   B

562   Guilherme Leal Brazil          1.4   cosmetics            55   A

562   Isaac Saba Raffoul & fam       1.4   diversified          82   B
      Mexico

562   Antonio Luiz Seabra Brazil     1.4   cosmetics            63   A

606   Elie Horn Brazil               1.3   real estate          60   A

606   Carlos Alberto Sicupira        1.3   beer                 58   B
      Brazil

645   Dorothea Steinbruch & fam      1.2   steel                --   A
      Brazil

698   Henrique Constantino Brazil    1.1   Gol Airlines         34   A

698   Ricardo Constantino Brazil     1.1   Gol Airlines         42   A

698   Joaquim Constantino Neto       1.1   Gol Airlines         40   A
      Brazil

698   Constantino de Oliveira Jr     1.1   Gol Airlines         37   A
      Brazil

746   Calvin Ayre Canada             1.0   Bodog.com            44   A

746   David Cheriton Canada          1.0   Google               55   A

In this, FORBES' 20th annual ranking of the world's richest people, a team of more than 30 reporters in seven countries spent the better part of a year valuing the assets held by 793 billionaires, from shares of publicly traded companies and real estate to yachts and planes and art collections. Stock prices were calculated using market prices and exchange rates as of Feb. 13. Privately held companies were valued by coupling estimates of revenues or profits (or, in some cases, company-provided numbers) to prevailing price/revenue and price/earnings ratios for similar publicly traded companies. Generally we list individual fortunes only, rather than those shared among extended families such as the Rothschilds. In some cases we divvy up a fortune. For instance, last year Luciano Benetton & family had a net worth of $9.9 billion. This year, based on new information, we divided the fortune among Luciano and his three siblings, each of whom appear with individual net worths of $2.5 billion. We denote these splits in our rankings to distinguish them from newly discovered fortunes. When such a split isn't clear, we list together the names of those who share the fortune, as in the case of New Zealand first-timers Richard and Christopher Chandler.

Marina Amoroso, Analyst, Wireless/Mobile US, Yankee Group; Munir Barakat, Wafra Investment Advisory Group; Ernesto Canales, Canales y Socios Abogados, S.C.; Drewry Shipping Consultants; Peter Forbes, Alan Stratford & Associates; Louis B. Gagliardi; John S. Herold; Alexander A. Ignatov, President, Ignatov & Company; Finn Øystein Bergh, Kapital; C.N. Krishnakumar; Susan Mainzer; John Mason, Stephen Mason Associates; Medias Equitables; Stuart Morley, Head of Research, GVA Grimley; Colm Murphy, Sunday Times, London; Scott Rankin, Davy Stockbrokers; Henry Seggerman, International Investment Advisers; Thai Rating and Information Services; Zawya.com; Khaled Zitouni, Corporate Ratings-Leverage Finance, Standard & Poor's.

PHOTO (COLOR): Constantino de Oliveira Jr.'s airline stock has been soaring; Barry Sherman's generic drugs roll big pharma; media magnates Emilio Azcarraga Jean and Ricardo Salinas Pliego compete through their respective television networks, Grupo Televisa and TV Azteca.

PHOTO (COLOR)

PHOTO (COLOR)

PHOTO (COLOR)

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Reported By Cristina von Zeppelin; Tatiana Serafin; Suzanne Hoppough; Kiyoe Minami; Helen Coster; Kerry A. Dolan; Russell Flannery; Evan Hessel; Megan Johnston; Matthew Miller and Matthew Swibel; Additional Reporting By Kiri Blakeley; Justin Doebele; Chandrani Ghosh; Lea Goldman; Naazneen Karmali; Maxim Kashulinsky; Josephine Lee; Nathan Vardi; Kirill Vishnepolsky and Chaniga Vorasarun; Additional Reporting By Forbes Russia; Edited by Luisa Kroll and Allison Fass; Research By Phyllis Berman; Heidi Brown; Tomas Kellner; Ritu Kalra; Susan Kitchens; Deborah Orr; Forbes Poland and Forbes Turkey; Database by Mitchel Rand