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#1 William Gates III

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Age: 50Fortune: self madeSource: MicrosoftNet Worth: 50.0 Country Of Citizenship: United StatesResidence: Medina, Washington, United States, North AmericaIndustry: SoftwareMarital Status: married, 3 childrenHarvard University, Drop OutMicrosoft's chief visionary moving further away from day-to-day corporate work. For the first time did not offer a strategy outlook at last year's financial analyst meeting. Instead, prefers to dive into innovative projects, foster collaboration among Microsoft's many divisions. Microsoft aims to be omnipotent, selling software for PCs, servers, cell phones, television set-top boxes, gaming consoles, the Web. At the ripe (tech sector) age of 30, Gates' company impressively beats rivals in profit margins, market capitalization and R&D budget, but its sales growth is slowing to a (recently) single-digit percentage pace. Like elder statesman of computing, IBM, has been investing heavily in its own stock. Diversifies methodically, selling 20 million shares every quarter, reinvesting through Cascade Investment. Big stakes in Canadian National Railway, Republic Services, Berkshire Hathaway. Philanthropy, via $29 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at fighting infectious disease (hepatitis B, AIDS, malaria) and improving high schools.

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#2 Warren Buffett

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Age: 75Fortune: self madeSource: Berkshire HathawayNet Worth: 42.0 Country Of Citizenship: United StatesResidence: Omaha, Nebraska, United States, North AmericaIndustry: InvestmentsMarital Status: widowed, 3 childrenUniversity of Nebraska Lincoln, Bachelor of Arts / ScienceColumbia University, Master of ScienceRevered investor took it on the chin over Berkshire Hathaway's General Re insurance unit; SEC threatened civil fraud suit against General Re Chief Joseph Brandon over questionable transaction with American International Group. Also got it for his board seat at Coca-Cola, where his "independence" might be compromised by Berkshire's ownership of Dairy Queen, which buys lots of Coke products. Buffett: "Do they want us to favor Pepsi?" At Berkshire set in place two governance reforms: regular meetings of directors without Buffett present; whistleblower line for employees. Sitting on $43 billion in cash, hoped to make some big acquisitions last year, "but I struck out." Instead, invested in foreign currencies: $21 billion bet against the dollar and in favor of various other currencies. "In no way does our thinking about currencies rest on doubts about America." Newspaper delivery boy filed first 1040 at age 13; claimed $35 deduction for bicycle. Studied under Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Applied value-investing principles to build Berkshire Hathaway. Portfolio includes utilities (MidAmerican Energy Holdings), insurance (Geico, General Re), apparel (Fruit of the Loom), flight services (FlightSafety, NetJets). Also chunks of American Express, Coca-Cola, Gillette, Wells Fargo. Instructs managers to run a business as if it's the only asset the manager's family will own over the next 100 years. Prefers his investors to buy equities only after careful analysis. "If they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful." Says he underestimated the severity of certain stocks' overvaluation during the tech bubble. "I talked when I should have walked." No matter. Since taking control of Berkshire 40 years ago, has delivered compound annual return of 22%. "No wonder we tap-dance to work."

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#6 Paul Allen

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Age: 53Fortune: self madeSource: Microsoft, investmentsNet Worth: 22.0 Country Of Citizenship: United StatesResidence: Seattle, Washington, United States, North AmericaIndustry: SoftwareMarital Status: single, no childrenWashington State University, Drop OutMicrosoft cofounder, "wired world" proponent lately finding more promise in pipes delivering oil instead of information. Bought energy outfit Plains Resources for $460 million, controlling stake in Plains All American Pipeline, operator of 15,000 miles of oil pipelines. Through Vulcan Energy unit, paid $250 million for natural gas storage business from Sempra Energy. Hasn't given up entirely on the future. Still maintains dozens of investments in media (Charter Communications), technology (set-top box manufacturer Digeo), biotech. Ten-year-old investment in wannabe Hollywood studio DreamWorks finally showing some returns after company took its animation unit public but planned secondary offering of mostly Allen shares postponed for now. Owner of pro football's Seattle Seahawks took team to its first Super Bowl in February, lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Other pursuits in space (funded SpaceShipOne, first to launch private flight into suborbital space), the open seas (413-foot yacht Octopus armed with 2 helicopters and a 60-foot submarine). His Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has donated heavily to education, art and science causes. Joined buddy Bill Gates in 1975, left the company in 1983 to fight Hodgkin's disease. Has been slowly selling off Microsoft stake ever since.

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#10 Li Ka-shing

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Age: 77Fortune: self madeSource: DiversifiedNet Worth: 18.8 Country Of Citizenship: Hong KongResidence: Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Asia & AustraliaIndustry: DiversifiedMarital Status: widowed, 2 childrenHigh School, Drop OutAsia's richest and most influential investor's fortune is centered on conglomerates Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa. Real estate developer, cell phone provider, retailer, major supplier of electricity to Hong Kong and the world's largest operator of container terminals. In June donated $180 million to University of Hong Kong; $40 million to University of California, Berkeley. Son Victor helps father run his massive empire, son Richard struck out on own in early 1990s.

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#12 Michael Dell

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Age: 41Fortune: self madeSource: DellNet Worth: 17.1 Country Of Citizenship: United StatesResidence: Austin, Texas, United States, North AmericaIndustry: TechnologyMarital Status: married, 4 childrenUniversity of Texas Austin, Drop OutFounder, former chief executive of world's largest PC maker feeling tremors at the top. Even though second-quarter revenue spiked up 15% last year to $13.5 billion, stock sank 13%, biggest dip in almost 4 years. Soft-spoken Texan started selling computers from University of Texas dorm room 1984; dropped out to start Dell Computer. Went public in 1988, grew fast with direct-sales model, kept R&D costs low. Ironfisted chief info officer Randall Mott led charge to trim spending; swiped by rival HP in July. Steady seller of Dell stock, pumps cash into private investment firm MSD Capital. Assets include 377-room Four Seasons Resort Maui in Wailea, Hawaii; stakes in IHOP, NorthWestern, Indiana restaurant chain Steak n Shake. Devoted Republican sits on U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology. Wife, Susan, created fashion label Phi, sells through Neiman Marcus.

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#140 Steven Jobs

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Age: 51Fortune: self madeSource: Apple Computer, PixarNet Worth: 4.4 Country Of Citizenship: United StatesResidence: Palo Alto, California, United States, North AmericaIndustry: TechnologyMarital Status: married, 4 childrenReed College, Drop OutApple icon riding high on iPod —Apple shares are up 70% in the past year—and his animation hit factory Pixar, which he agreed to sell to Disney for $7.4 billion. Music execs who grumble that Apple sells lots of iPods but not much music may have to change their tune: company's iTunes site now selling 3 million songs a day, accounting for 83% of the downloadable music sold opn the Internet. Now mobile phone carriers take aim at Apple, planning their own MP3 services, but Jobs trumps them with new iTunes-branded Motorola phone. Business equally rosy in Hollywood. Movies by animation powerhouse Pixar (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles) grossed $3.2 billion at worldwide box office. Underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer August 2004; back at work after a month.

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#562 Oprah Winfrey

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Age: 52Fortune: self madeSource: TelevisionNet Worth: 1.4 Country Of Citizenship: United StatesResidence: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North AmericaIndustry: Media/EntertainmentMarital Status: single, no childrenTennessee State University, Bachelor of Arts / ScienceQueen of all media wrapping up her second decade ruling the airwaves. Born in rural Mississippi. Moved to Milwaukee, then Tennessee. Became TV newscaster in Nashville and Baltimore; emotional, ad-lib delivery prompted shift to talk format. Joined Chicago TV station; turned third-rated morning show into number 1. Launched The Oprah Winfrey Show nationally in 1986. Owns property in Chicago, Hawaii, Santa Barbara. Gives to needy women, children and families via Oprah's Angel Network and her personal charity, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation.

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#451 Larry Rong Zhijian

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Age: 64Fortune: self madeSource: DiversifiedNet Worth: 1.7 Country Of Citizenship: ChinaResidence: Shanghai, China, Asia & AustraliaIndustry: DiversifiedMarital Status: married, 3 childrenMember of one of China's most powerful business families, which has been prominent for decades. His father, Rong Yiren, who died in October 2005, played a critical role in opening up China to the world through his China International Trust & Investment Corp. after Deng Xiaoping launched the country's reforms. Larry Rong worked in China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 14 years before moving to Hong Kong to set up Citic Pacific. He has turned the company into one of China's most successful conglomerates with investments in steel, property and power. Citic Pacific owns 26% of Cathay Pacific Airways and is a partner of Wal-Mart in the Shanghai area.

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#451 Wong Kwong Yu

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Age: 36Fortune: self madeSource: AppliancesNet Worth: 1.7 Country Of Citizenship: ChinaResidence: Beijing, China, Asia & AustraliaIndustry: RetailingMarital Status: married, 2 childrenChina's king of appliance retailing. At age 17 Wong moved to Beijing where he worked as a trader. In 1987 he opened his first appliance store. Today his Gome chain has more than 100CK locations; thriving thanks to up-and-coming middle-class shoppers. A backdoor listing of his appliance retailer Gome Electrical Appliances in 2004 made him a billionaire. Besides retailing, he has property interests in Beijing.

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#606 Liu Yongxing

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Age: 57Fortune: self madeSource: Agriculture, aluminumNet Worth: 1.3 Country Of Citizenship: ChinaResidence: Chengdu, China, Asia & AustraliaIndustry: AgricultureMarital Status: married, 1 childPart of the Liu family, four brothers who made their initial fortune in the feed industry starting in the 1980s, when Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms were taking route in the countryside. Liu Yongxing's East Hope is still one of the country's largest feed suppliers but has diversified into aluminum and invested in financial institutions.

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#28 Abigail Johnson

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Age: 44Fortune: inherited and growingSource: FidelityNet Worth: 12.5 Country Of Citizenship: United StatesResidence: Boston, Massachusetts, United States, North AmericaIndustry: FinanceMarital Status: married, 2 childrenWilliam Smith College, Bachelor of Arts / ScienceHarvard University, Master of Business AdministrationWith family, controls Fidelity Investments, America's largest mutual fund company. Firm founded by grandfather 1946. Frugal father, Edward III (see), joined company as an analyst in 1957, took reins of flagship Magellan Fund 4 years later. "Abby" studied art history at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Spent 2 years at Booz Allen Hamilton after graduating in 1984. Interned at Fidelity while pursuing Harvard M.B.A. Returned full-time 1988, tracked industrial equipment stocks, then telecom. Ran her first diversified fund 1993, became president of company's mutual fund division 2001. Avoided taint of corruption during 2003 scandal; kept money managers from market timing, picked up $31 billion in fund assets during first 6 months as competitors Janus Capital, Strong Capital Management, Bank One withered. Last May took over Employer Services division; administers payroll, employee stock plans. Father reduced ownership in 1995; Johnson family still FMR's largest shareholder with a 49% stake.

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#154 Nina Wang

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Age: NAFortune: inheritedSource: Real estateNet Worth: 4.2 Country Of Citizenship: Hong KongResidence: Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Asia & AustraliaIndustry: Real EstateMarital Status: widowed, no childrenAsia's richest woman breathing a big sigh of relief: In December the widow of Teddy Wang was given full control over his estate, including real estate giant Chinachem, after a eight-year legal battle with father-in-law Wang Din-shin. Wang had been accused of forging her husband's will after his 1990 disappearance. She was cleared of all charges in September by Hong Kong's Final Court of Appeal. Notoriously frugal and paranoid, the often-pigtailed Nina said to spend less than $650 a month and travel with a platoon of 50 bodyguards.

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#410 Albert von Thurn und Taxis

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Age: 22Fortune: inheritedSource: DiversifiedNet Worth: 1.9 Country Of Citizenship: GermanyResidence: Regensburg, Germany, Europe & RussiaIndustry: DiversifiedMarital Status: single, no childrenThe youngest man on Forbes Billionaires list. This prince inherited a fortune on his eighteenth birthday in June 2001. His assets include extensive real estate holdings, a valuable art collection and a tech company. His 30,000 hectares of woodland in Germany is considered one of the largest forestry holdings in Europe. Lives in one of the family's castles, Schloss Emmeram, with his mother Gloria and older sisters Maria Theresia and Elisabeth.

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