World's Billionaires 2009

© AP Photo/Seth Wenig

17. Michael Bloomberg Net Worth: $16 billion Source: Bloomberg LP/U.S. Age: 67 Marital Status: Divorced, two children

• New York City mayor facing a fiscal crisis as banking chaos destroys Wall Street.

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• Lucrative bonuses that came with working on Wall Street fueled spending on apartments, restaurants and shopping in recent years; as bonuses dry up, so does the city's income. Forecasts predict NYC's tax revenues will fall 28%--nearly $7 billion--in 2010 from 2008.
• Law passed in October will allow Bloomberg to run for third term later this year. Approval rating now 52%, down from 71% last summer.
• Becomes one of the world's richest men after a transaction put a solid valuation on Bloomberg LP: He borrowed to buy a 20% stake in his company from Merrill Lynch in July for $4.5 billion.
• Today he owns 88% of the financial data and news outfit he founded in 1982.
• Boston-born son of accountant got engineering degree from Johns Hopkins; M.B.A. from Harvard.
• Became a trader at Salomon Brothers 1970s, quit with $10 million in stock.
• Created financial information services firm Innovative Market Systems to sell financial data, analytic tools to Wall Street.
• Renamed Bloomberg LP in 1987; added news service, magazine, cable network, radio station.
• Has given away nearly $800 million to charity in the past five years.

© Hon Siu Keung/EyePress News

18. Stefan Persson Net Worth: $14.5 billion Source: Hennes & Mauritz/Sweden Age: 61 Marital Status: Married, three children

• Heads cheap-chic fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz; H&M known for bringing in big names like Madonna, Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Kylie Minogue to design affordable collections for its 1,700 stores.

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• Opened first store in Japan last fall.
• Business holding up so far amid economic downturn; sales, profits up 13% each in 2008.
• Stock up 3% in past year, but his fortune dragged down by weak euro.
• Plans to create 6,000 new jobs, open 225 stores this year, including first in Beijing.
• Stefan's father Erling founded H&M in 1947; Stefan took over in 1982, gave up chief executive position in 1998 but remains chairman.
• Son Karl-Johan, 34, will become chief this summer.
• Stefan is a founder of the Mentor Foundation, nonprofit that combats substance abuse among youth.
• Enjoys downhill skiing, tennis and golf.

© AP Photo

19. Charles Koch Net Worth: $14 billion Source: Koch Industries/U.S. Age: 73 Marital Status: Married, two children

• Fortune of one of America's richest men down more than 25% in past six months as fertilizer, oil, chemical markets all collapsed.
• Still, sales at his Koch Industries topped $100 billion in 2008; company now America's second-largest private company.
• Father, Fred C. Koch (died 1967), invented method of turning heavy oil into gasoline. Sons Charles, David, Frederick and William inherited Koch Industries after father's death. Charles and David bought out William and Frederick for $1.1 billion in 1983.
• Today company has stakes in pipelines, refineries, fertilizer, fibers and polymers, forest and consumer products, chemical technology.
• Employs 80,000 workers in 60 countries.
• Purchased Invista, maker of Lycra and Coolmax fabric, in 2004 for $4.2 billion.
• Dropped $21 billion on paper and building-supply vendor Georgia-Pacific the following year. Brothers each own 42%.
• Charles is chief executive.
• Studied nuclear and chemical engineering at MIT; co-founder of conservative think tank Cato Institute.

© Jimi Celeste/WWD/Cond, Nast/Corbis

19. David Koch Net Worth: $14 billion Source: Koch Industries/U.S. Age: 68 Marital Status: Married, three children

• Fortune of one of America's richest men down more than 25% in past six months as fertilizer, oil, chemical markets all collapsed.
• Still, sales at his Koch Industries topped $100 billion in 2008; company now America's second-largest private company.
• Father, Fred C. Koch (died 1967), invented method of turning heavy oil into gasoline. Sons Charles, David, Frederick and William inherited Koch Industries after father's death. Charles and David bought out William and Frederick for $1.1 billion in 1983.
• Today company has stakes in pipelines, refineries, fertilizer, fibers and polymers, forest and consumer products, chemical technology.
• Employs 80,000 workers in 60 countries.
• Purchased Invista, maker of Lycra and Coolmax fabric, in 2004 for $4.2 billion.
• Dropped $21 billion on paper and building-supply vendor Georgia-Pacific the following year. Brothers each own 42%.
• David is executive vice president.
• Holds chemical engineering degrees from MIT; pledged $100 million to alma mater for cancer research last year.
• Pledged another $100 million to New York's Lincoln Center last July.

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