The Asia-Pacific region staged a strong showing in the latest list of the world's super-rich compiled by Forbes magazine, as the number of billionaires from the region jumped 80 per cent compared to last year, Forbes media said Thursday, according to dpa. In addition to the increase in their numbers, billionaires from the region saw their combined wealth more than double over the past year, Forbes said in a statement released in Singapore. With the growth in their collective fortune, Asia-Pacific billionaires far outpaced their counterparts in Europe and the United States, who saw their wealth rise by 50 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. The number of super-wealthy from the Asia-Pacific region soared to 234, up from 130 last year, representing an increase to 23 per cent of the 1,011 individuals on this year's list. The combined wealth of Asia-Pacific billionaires more than doubled year-on-year to 729 billion US dollars in 2009, up from 357 billion, according to Forbes. Indian oil magnate Mukesh Ambani, valued at 29 billion US dollars, was the richest man in the Asia-Pacific region, Forbes said, closely followed by fellow countryman, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, with an estimated net worth of 28.7 billion US dollars. With 21 billion US dollars, Hong Kong's Li Ka Shing, came in third in the region and at number 14 worldwide, said Forbes, while the richest Asia-Pacific woman, India's Savitri Jindal, just made it into the region's top 10 with a net worth of 12.2 billion US dollars. China continued to lead the pack of the region's economies with the number of its billionaires more than doubling year-on-year to 64, up from 28 in last year's ranking, Forbes said. India came in second, increasing its number of listed billionaires to 49, compared to 24 last year. Of the 97 newcomers to the Forbes list, 62 were first-time billionaires from the Asia-Pacific region, a nine-fold increase from last year when the region contributed only seven new names to the list, the statement said.
