World's Rich List Reflects Shifting Global Wealth
全球首富換人做 Forbes magazine has released its annual list of the richest people in the world. And for the first time in 15 years, an American does not hold the top spot. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim beat out Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to top the list. Overall, there are fewer Americans in the top 10. Oracle founder Larry Ellison is the only other billionaire from the States. The rest come from India , Brazil , Spain , France and Germany . 新興市場實力不容小覷。根據最新富比士雜誌公布的全球億萬富豪榜,全球首富由新興市場電信大亨,墨西哥電信大亨史林姆打敗比爾蓋茲和巴菲特居冠,史林姆更成為富比士統計16年以來第一位稱王的非美國人,前10名當中,有4名來自於新興市場,除了第1名的墨西哥史林姆外,還有第4、5名印度石化、鋼鐵產業,以及第8名的巴西油礦業者等。 We were interested in the story behind the list. What does it say about the global economy? Who are the most powerful people you've never heard of? Luisa Kroll -- the senior editor of Forbes magazine, helped compile the list. NORRIS (host) : And how big is that fortune? Ms. KROLL: 53.5 billion. NORRIS: And growing. NORRIS: Just curious about the reasons behind the drop in the number of Americans in the top 10. Is this caused by the instability in the global economy, or does outsourcing have anything to do with this, that so much manufacturing takes place someplace else? Ms. KROLL: I actually think that the real story is the fact that everybody else is doing better. You know, the U.S. is up overall. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett both added a lot to their fortunes, so too Larry Ellison, but they just didn't do as well as some of these other economies, like India and China, both of which more than doubled their number of billionaires. China had 27 new billionaires, and the U.S. only had 16. So I think you see China creating more, and you see these emerging markets presenting their entrepreneurs with opportunities to really grow as their economies are growing. Interesting, among those 14, seven of them have made their fortunes on mainland China . Source: NPR News Now, let’s learn more about Mexico ’s Carlos Slim, named the world’s richest man on March 10, first showed a talent for business as a 10-year-old kid when he filled his pockets with pesos selling drinks and snacks to his family. 墨西哥通訊大亨史林在三月十日被點名為全球首富,他在十歲時就以賣飲料與點心給家人讓自己荷包滿滿,首次展現他的生意頭腦。 More than half a century later, Slim accumulated a fortune of US$53.5 billion, beating Microsoft founder Bill Gates to top the list of the world’s richest people in 2009. His vast business empire includes some of Mexico’s best-known malls and its biggest telecom operator, as well as hotels, restaurants, oil drilling firms and banks ─ making it hard to go through a day in Mexico without paying him some money. 逾半個世紀後,史林累積了五百多億美元的財富,擊敗微軟的比爾蓋茲,登上2009年世界富豪排行榜首。他廣大的事業帝國包括墨西哥一些最知名的購物中心、該國最大的通訊公司,以及飯店、餐廳、石油鑚探公司與銀行:要在墨國生活一天不付他錢都很困難。 While critics accuse him of using a monopoly to build his fortune, Slim has a simple philosophy about making money. “Wealth is like an orchard,” the 70-year-old said. “With the orchard, what you have to do is make it grow, reinvest to make it bigger, or diversify into other areas.” 雖然批評者指控史林利用壟斷事業累積財富,但史林的賺錢哲學很簡單。史林表示:「財富就像一座果園。在種果園時你得讓它成長,然後繼續投資以擴大它的規模,或是種植更多種作物。」 He has become involved in combating poverty, illiteracy and poor healthcare in Latin America , but has never voiced plans to give chunks of his wealth to charity like Gates or fellow billionaire Warren Buffett. Businessmen, he says, do more good by creating jobs and wealth through investment,” not by being Santa Claus.” Source: student post
Ms. KROLL: Carlos Slim is a self-made telecom magnate. Most of his fortune is held in public companies that trade in Mexico . And, you know, many of his companies dominate a lot of Latin America 's economy.
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