Every year is a good year to be a billionaire — but 2012 was a better year than most.
The net worth of the world’s 100 richest people went up a whopping $241 billion last year, bringing the total wealth of the elite super-rich to $1.9 trillion.
The biggest increase in net worth was recorded by Spanish retail mogul Amancio Ortega, whose fortune ballooned by $22.2 billion to $57.5 billion as sales at his Inditex group skyrocketed.
The gain made him the third richest man in the world, displacing Warren Buffet, who earned an amazing $5.1 billion despite giving $22 billion to charity.
The second richest, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, made $7 billion this year, while the richest, Mexican telephone mogul Carlos Slim, saw his wealth rise by $13.4 billion, from a net worth that was estimated in 2011 at $76 billion.