Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Zara fashion house boss Amancio Ortega of Spain topped the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires.

But Forbes cut a Mexican drug lord from the list, saying it could not contact him, and a Saudi prince blasted the magazine for under-reporting his fortune.

Slim who is from Lebanese origin, controls Latin American telecommunications power America Movil and retail/industrial group Grupo Carso, came in first among the mega-rich for the fourth straight year, with a fortune estimated at $73 billion, up $4 billion from a year ago.

Microsoft chairman Gates, a perennial list leader, placed second with $67 billion, $6 billion more than in 2012, even as he continues to give his fortune away via the global charity work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ortega, whose Inditex fashion group includes the popular Zara chain, vaulted from fifth into the third spot with $57 billion, compared with $37.5 billion a year ago.

Ortega was the biggest gainer, while Brazilian metals and oil magnate Eike Batista slipped from seventh to 100th place after a $19.4 billion drop in his fortune.

After a year in which the “Occupy Wall Street” movement decried the growing wealth of the so-called “One Percent” at the expense of the many, the Forbes annual list once again pointed to more billionaires amassing more money.

The list now boasts 1,426 names, a record, including 210 new members. The group’s aggregate net worth comes in at $5.4 trillion, up from $4.6 trillion last year.

The U.S. led the list with 442 tycoons, followed by China with 122, Russia with 110 and Germany with 58. The number of women billionaires jumped by 34 to 138 and 123 from the Middle East.

Forbes noted that rebounding equity markets and stronger consumer brands “drove a huge” number of newcomers, including Italy’s Diesel jeans mogul Renzo Rosso; U.S. retailer Bruce Nordstrom; and U.S. designer Tory Burch.

Warren Buffett, chief of U.S. investment group Berkshire Hathaway, ranked fourth with $53.5 billion, and Larry Ellison, chief executive of U.S. technology company Oracle, came in fifth with $43 billion.

Tied at sixth were brothers Charles and David Koch, with $34 billion each, fortunes built on their U.S. oil refining, pulp and paper and chemicals empire Koch Industries.

Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, who heads Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa, was eighth with $31 billion.

French luxury tycoons rounded out the top 10: Liliane Bettencourt and family, of the L’Oreal cosmetics and beauty empire, with $30 billion, and Bernard Arnault, leader of LVMH, with $29 billion.

Four members of the Walton family, the dynasty behind retailer Walmart, dominated the list of billionaires just outside the top 10, with individual gold piles of between $26 and $28 billion. Together, though, they were Forbes’s richest family, with $107.3 billion.

 

Alwaleed .

Saudi tycoon accuses Forbes of undervaluing his fortune, ranking him 26th

Meanwhile Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, often called the Arab world’s richest man, announced that he would no longer cooperate with Forbes because it understated his wealth.

Alwaleed, a nephew of the Saudi king who owns large stakes of Apple, Citigroup, News Corp and Facebook and well as a luxury hotel chain through his Kingdom Holding Co., came in 26th with $20 billion.

That was far less than the $28 billion estimated by Bloomberg’s competing billionaires list.

Alwaleed accused Forbes of “intentional biases” that led to undervaluing his assets and that “seemed designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern investors and institutions.”

“Kingdom Holding Company will continue to work with the Bloomberg Billionaires valuation teams,” the company said in a statement, adding that it had “retained counsel.”

Of all billionaires  listed, 123 were from the Middle East. Prince Al-Walid Bin Talal came in at first place, and 26th on the list overall, with an estimated worth of $20 billion, followed by Muhammad Al-Amudi of Saudi Arabia, the second richest Arab listed by Forbes, 65th on the list overall, with an estimated value of $13.5 billion. 

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his brother, businessman Taha Mikati, shared the 384th spot on the overall list with an equal fortune of $3.5 billion. Baha Hariri the oldest son of former and late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, ranked 613 on the list with $2.4 billion to his name.

Dan Gilbert.

Dan Gilbert tops Forbes list of the richest people in Detroit

Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, whose company saw explosive growth in 2012, zoomed past Mike and Marian Ilitch, the founders of Little Caesar’s Pizza, to become metro Detroit‘s richest billionaire, according to Forbes’ annual list of  The World’s Billionaires.

Gilbert is worth an estimated $3.5 billion, up from $1.5 billion in March 2012, because of the extraordinary growth of his privately held Quicken Loans  in 2012. The nation’s largest online lender closed $70 billion in mortgages last year, up from $30 billion in 2011, and struck important partnerships for the future. Employment nearly doubled to more than 8,000 in Detroit, Cleveland and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Even as Quicken Loans soared in 2012, its hometown was spiraling downward at an alarming pace. On Friday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he will name an emergency financial manager to take control of the city, which has a $327 million budget deficit, more than $14 billion in long-term debt and can’t afford to pay its bills any more.

Yet while city government is broken, population is shrinking and many services are lacking, downtown Detroit is booming, thanks to private investment from entrepreneurs like Gilbert and Ilitch.

Gilbert’s real estate company, Rock Ventures,  has acquired 15 office buildings in downtown Detroit as part of an effort to turn the city into a technology hub. His companies, including Quicken Loans, Title Source and numerous technology-related startups, have brought more than 7,000 people to downtown Detroit since Aug. 2010. Other companies opening offices in Gilbert-owned buildings include Twitter, Chrysler and Metro-West Appraisal.

Early in 2013, Gilbert said he had reached a deal to acquire Greektown Casino, one of three casinos in the city, as he looks to expand the downtown retail and entertainment district. He’s also behind a private fundraising effort to build a light rail system, which he says is vital in creating a vibrant urban core in Detroit.

The Ilitch family, worth an estimated $2.7 billion, is also investing in Detroit, with plans for a new hockey arena for their Detroit Red Wings.

Other Detroit-area billionaires on the Forbes list include:

•  Shopping mall magnate Alfred Taubman, at $2.9 billion;

•  5-Hour Energy founder Manoj Bhargava, at $1.5 billion;

•  Ford Motor Co. heir William C. Ford Sr., at $1.25 billion;

•    Auto dealer Roger Penske, at $1.2 billion, and

•  Ambassador Bridge owner and trucking magnate Manuel “Matty” Moroun, at $1.1 billion.