Carlos Slim Helu is world’s richest man

Mexican telecoms mogul Carlos Slim Helu has overtaken Bill Gates to become the world’s wealthiest man, according to the Forbes rich list which estimates his fortune has grown $18.5bn in the past year to a whopping $53.5bn. Slim, whose vast art collection includes more than 130 sculptures by Rodin as well as works by El Greco, Murillo, Titian, Rubens, impressionists and post-impressionists and Mexican modern and Spanish colonial works, is the first non-American to top the list since 1994. Luxury-goods magnate Bernard Arnault came seventh with $21.5bn, while David Thomson, who collects Native American art, took 20th place with $19bn, knocking New York’s mayor Michael Bloomberg out of the top 20.