NEW YORK, March 7 (UPI) -- According to Forbes magazine, there are more new billionaires than ever before and their collective worth has reached new heights with the number at $6.4 trillion.
The 2014 Forbes' Billionaires List found 1,645 billionaires worldwide, of whom 268 are new members on the list and 42 are women, also a new record. The world's billionaires' collective wealth is $6.4 trillion, an increase from $5.4 trillion a year ago.
The U.S. still has the most billionaires with about 500 Americans making the list. China and Russia have the second and third most respectively.
Bill Gates climbed back to the top as the world's richest person, taking the title from Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim Helu who came in at number two, and Amancio Ortega, founder of the Zara fashion chain, who ranked third.
Forbes attributes the boom in concentrated wealth to the strong bull market and the S&P 500 gaining almost 30 percent over the last year.
[GeoBeats] [Forbes]
