Top 5 Forbes 2008 Billionaires

The top 5 Forbes 2008 billionaires is a listing of the richest people in the world that year as complied by Forbes magazine. Forbes is a national business publication that is well known for its billionaire list and the Forbes 400, a listing of the year's richest Americans. A billionaire is defined by Forbes as a person who has a net worth of at least one billion dollars.

1. Warren Buffet. Warren Buffet was the richest man of 2008, with a net worth of 62 billion dollars. Buffet used his skill at stock market investments to fund the creation of Berkshire Hathway, a holding company that oversees other companies, such as Geico.
2. Carlos Slim Helu (and family). Carlos Slim Helu, a citizen of Mexico, was worth 60 billion dollars in 2008. He is a widower, so his six children are entitled to share in his fortune. When Mexico privatized its telephone system in 1990. Helu immediately bought Telmex and expanded the telecommunication company throughout Latin America. 
3. William Gates, III. William Gates III, also known as Bill Gates, founded Microsoft, the company that distributes the Windows operating system. In 2008, Gates was the third richest billionaire on the Forbes list, with a worth of 58 billion dollars.
4. Lakshmi Mittal. A long-time resident of England, Mittal made his fortune in steel, heading ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker in 2008. He placed fourth on the list with a value of 45 billion dollars.
5. Mukesh Ambani. Mukesh Ambani is an Indian billionaire with an estimate worth of 43 billion dollars in 2008. He inherited his fortune from his father, the late Indian industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, and heads Reliance Industrials, a large manufacturing company in India.