Slim beats Bill Gates as world's richest

And this is so according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the worlds 20 wealthiest individuals.The 72-year-olds net worth fell $478.4 million in a day to $68.5 billion as of the close of markets on March 2, as U.S. moguls Bill Gates and Warren Buffett placed second and third on the list compiled by Bloomberg News.Slim controls Mexicos America Movil SAB (AMXL).Brazils Eike Batista, who ranks 10th, still covets the top spot after vowing a year ago that hed become the worlds wealthiest man by 2015.Im competitive, Batista, who trails Slim by almost $39 billion, said in a March 2 telephone interview from Rio de Janeiro. Its Brazils time to be No. 1. Brazilians have always admired the American dream. Whats happening in Brazil is the Brazilian dream and I happen to be the example.The Bloomberg Billionaires Index takes measure of the worlds wealthiest people based on market and economic changes and Bloomberg News reporting. Each net worth figure is updated every business day at 5:30 p.m. in New York. The valuations are listed in U.S. dollars.Todays ranking was published with the release of new billionaires profile pages in the Bloomberg Professional service. The profiles feature a transparent analysis of how each billionaires fortune was calculated.Slims fortune has increased 11 percent this year, according to the index. A spokesman for Slim didnt immediately return a telephone request for comment.Gates, BuffettGates, 56, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) in Redmond, Washington, is worth $62.4 billion, down $102.1 million on March 2 and up 11 percent year to date.The fortune of Buffett, 81, chairman of Omaha, Nebraska- based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/B), declined $336.9 million to $43.8 billion on March 2 and is up 2.4 percent in 2012. Almost all of Buffetts wealth is held in Berkshire Hathaway, the publicly traded holding company he has run since 1965.The combined net worth of the 20 richest people is $676.8 billion. Nine are Americans, including three from the family of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)Number seven is Larry Ellison, 67, chief executive officer of Redwood City, California-based Oracle Corp. (ORCL), the worlds third-largest software maker after Microsoft and SAP AG. (SAP) His $38 billion fortune puts him $4 billion ahead of brothers Charles and David Koch, who each own 42 percent of Koch Industries Inc., one of the biggest closely held companies in the world by revenue. Charles, 76, and David, 71, control the Wichita, Kansas, refiner and chemical maker.Batista, 55, whose investments range from iron ore to coal, is worth $29.8 billion, up $133.9 million on March 2. His fortune has grown 32 percent this year, the most on the list.The House WinsSheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who owns 47 percent of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), which operates resorts in Macau and Las Vegas, is number 13 with $25.7 billion. Adelson, 78, and his family have pledged at least $10 million to a super-PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, a Republican presidential candidate.Liliane Bettencourt, 89, who with her family owns 31 percent of Paris-based cosmetics company LOreal SA (OR), is last on the ranking. Bettencourt was the subject of an international scandal in 2007 when her daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, filed a lawsuit accusing a family friend, photographer Francois- Marie Banier, of exploiting her mothers frail state. Evidence later revealed Bettencourt had granted more than $1 billion in cash and gifts to Banier. In October, Meyers and two grandsons became guardians of the clans $22.4 billion fortune.Mark Zuckerberg, the 27-year-old founder of Facebook Inc. (FB), the worlds largest social-networking company, didnt make the cut. Based on a roughly $100 billion valuation the Menlo Park, California-based company has been trading at in the private market, Zuckerbergs stake may be worth $21 billion, or about 25 percent less than previous estimates, once Facebook holds its initial public offering.