Adelson returns to top 10 of Forbes List of World’s Billionaires

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, whose net worth grew to $38 billion in 2013, returned to the top 10 of the Forbes List of the World’s Billionaires for the first time since 2007.

Adelson, 80, who owns 53 percent of the company that operates casinos in Las Vegas, Macau, Singapore and Pennsylvania, added $11.5 billion to net worth in the past year.

According to Forbes, Adelson earned an average of $32 million a day last year, third most of anyone on the planet.

Investor Kirk Kerkorian, 96, who founded the predecessor of MGM Resorts International, was the next highest-ranking Nevada gaming industry representative on the list, coming in at No. 328 with a net worth of $4.5 billion.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman Steve Wynn,72, was No. 396 on the list with a net worth of $3.8 billion. His former wife, Elaine Wynn, 70, who is a director with Wynn Resorts, was No. 642 on the list with a net worth of $2.7 billion.

Other Nevadans with ties to the gaming industry on the list included Frank Fertitta III, 52, and Lorenzo Fertitta, 45, the brothers who control Station Casinos and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. They were tied at No. 1,284 on the list with having a net worth of $1.3 billion.

The World’s Billionaire list took into account others in tied to the gaming industry internationally.

Lui Che Woo, 84, of Honk Kong, the chairman of Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment, was No. 28 on the list with a net worth $22 billion.

At the top of the Forbes list released Monday is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who returned to the No. 1 spot after four-year hiatus.

Gates, who led the list for 15 of the past 20 years, won the spot back from Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who had topped the list for the past four years. Gates’ net worth is estimated at $76 billion; Slim Helu follows at $72 billion.

Spanish clothing magnate Amancio Ortega, known for the Zara retail chain, maintained his third-ranked spot and came out ahead of famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett, who ranked fourth. Larry Ellison of Oracle came in fifth.

Forbes says a record 1,645 billionaires made the list this year, with an average net worth of $4.7 billion. That’s up from 1,426 billionaires last year with a net worth of $4.2 billion. Total net worth of this year’s list was $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion last year.

The magazine said that 1,080 of the billionaires were self-made, 207 inherited their wealth and 352 inherited a portion but are still growing it.

The largest net worth gainer on the list was Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who more than doubled his fortune to $28.5 billion as the value of his company’s stock soared. He ranks 21st on the list.

The social media giant helped bring a few notable newcomers to the list, including Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who recently sold their business to Facebook for $19 billion.

Forbes said 268 billionaires were new to the list, beating out a prior high of 226 newcomers in 2008. And a record number of women made the list this year, with 172 women joining, up 25 percent from last year.

Altogether 100 people dropped out of the rankings, while 16 passed away.

The U.S. was the country with the greatest number of billionaires at 492, followed by China with 152 and Russia with 111. Billionaires from four new countries joined, adding Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda to the geographic mix.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.