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Until very recently, the richest person alive was the Microsoft Software founder Bill gates. Current estimates suggest it is now Carlos Slim, a Mexican Tycoon. Possibly the first person to be generally referred to as the worlds richest man was the US oil tycoon John D Rockefeller.

<BR>Number of Billionaires by country (2006)<BR>
	United States 	371
	Germany 		56
	Russia 		47
	India 		36
	United Kingdom 	34
	Australia 		30
	Japan 		27
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