The world is quite different then when this blog started. The landscape of information about billionaires has changed a great deal.
"The number of billionaires has gone from 793 last year to 1,011 this year, almost to where it was [in] the record level of 2008," Forbes told reporters at a new conference in New York to announce the magazine's annual ranking. "The overall net worth of these billionaires is $3.6 trillion, up from $2.4 trillion just a year ago -- a 50 percent increase."
In 2009, the global financial crisis wiped out some 300 members of the dollar-billionaires club. This year, 164 of them are back on the list, joined by 97 first-time members.
The average worth of the world's billionaires is now $3.5 billion, or $500 million more than last year. These fantastically rich citizens come from 55 countries -- two of which have never before made the list: Finland and Pakistan.
