FINANCE BILLIONARES

Forbes magazine this week published its annual list of the richest people on the planet, a list that included notable names from the world of finance including 10 hedge fund managers and 10 private equity titans.

The 2011 Forbes named a record 1,210 billionaires with a total worth of $4.5 (€3.3bn) trillion. China doubled its number of billionaires, while Moscow is now home to more than any other city. The full list can be read here [ http://bit.ly/gaCFUC ].

Super-investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway was ranked number three on the list as his fortune increased by $3bn last year to reach $50bn. Last year, he and Bill Gates launched the “Giving Pledge”, which asked the world’s richest people to commit publicly to giving away the majority of their wealth.

Other notable finance names on the list include:

30. Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, $18.1bn, USA
Bloomberg decreased his fortune be spending $90m of his own money on his campaign to become elected mayor for a third consecutive term.

69. Abigail Johnson, president Fidelity Investments, $11.5bn, USA
The Johnson family controls the largest US mutual fund company. Her father, Edward, is in at 133 on the Forbes list with $7.1bn.

297. Bruno Schroder & family, Schroders, $3.7bn, UK
Shares in the family’s financial services company have jumped 60% in the past year, according to Forbes.

376. Andre Esteves, chief executive of BTG Pactual, $3bn, Brazil
Last year, BTG Pactual sold an 18.65% stake for $1.8bn to an international consortium and secured a record valuation for an emerging market investment bank.

833. Emilio Botin, Banco Santander, $1.5bn, Spain
Banco Santander is now the world’s fourth most profitable bank and the eighth largest by stock market capitalisation, according to Forbes.

• The 10 richest hedge fund managers on the Forbes list are:

39. John Paulson, founder of Paulson & Co, $16bn, USA
He personally netted more than $5bn in profits last year, likely the largest one-year haul in investing history as he overtook the $4bn he made shorting the sub-prime market in 2007, according to the Wall Street Journal.

46. George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, $14bn, USA
Soros’ $28bn Quantum Fund made 2.6% in 2010, according to Forbes.

61. Carl Icahn, $12.5bn, USA
This week, Icahn said he would return all $1.76bn of outside money in his hedge funds as he does not want to be responsible to investors in another possible market crisis.

74. James Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies, $10.6bn, USA
Simons personally made between $2bn and $3bn last year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

114. Steve Cohen, head of SAC Capital Advisors, $8bn, USA
Cohen told investors they would not suffer losses or incur costs from a government investigation into potential insider trading in the hedge fund industry, which included the arrest of two former SAC mangers. SAC has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

162. Ray Dalio, $6bn, Bridgewater Associates, USA
Bridgewater was this month once again named the largest US hedge fund manager, by trade publication AR magazine, with assets increasing by $15.3bn last year.

208. David Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management, $5bn, USA
Tepper personally made between $2bn and $3bn last year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

235. Bruce Kovner, Caxton Associates, $4.5bn, USA
Caxton has reportedly had only one down year since its inception in 1983 and made 6% in 2010, according to Forbes.

268. Robert, Daniel and Dirk Ziff, $4bn, USA
The brothers provided seed money to fund manager Daniel Och in exchange for a 10% stake in Och-Ziff Capital Management, which went public two years ago. Och is 336 on the Forbes list with $3.3bn.

336. Paul Tudor Jones, Tudor Investment, $3.3bn
The legendary trader founded the Robin Hood Foundation, which raised a record $88m at its annual charity gala last year.

• The 10 richest buyout mangers and venture capitalists on the Forbes list are:

169. Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of The Blackstone Group, $5.9bn, USA
Blackstone will look to test the tough fundraising environment and start to raise a new real estate fund of around $10bn later this year.

281. Henry Kravis, co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, $3.9bn, USA
Kravis received $19.5m in carried interest last year, according to a filing with theSecurities and Exchange Commission.

297. George Roberts, co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts $3.7bn, USA
Roberts received $19.5m in carried interest last year, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

310. Leon Black, chairman and chief executive of Apollo Global Management, $3.5bn, USA
Apollo suffered from weak performance during the financial crisis but its big bets on distressed debt have resulted in profits for the firm and its investors.

440. David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group, $2.6bn, USA
Carlyle is the most active financial sponsor in initial public offerings this year and has backed three of the four largest IPOs to date for a combined $9.4bn, according to Dealogic.

540. William Conway & Daniel D’Aniello, other Carlyle co-founders, $2.2bn, USA

540. John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, $2.2bn, USA
The venture capital firm made its name during the dotcom boom and its digital growth fund has invested in Groupon and Twitter.

651. James Coulter, co-founder of TPG, $1.9bn, USA
Forbes described him as the quieter co-founder of the Texas buyout firm, which recently re-acquired clothes retailer J Crew.

692. Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capital, $1.8bn, USA
Welsh-born venture capitalist who was an early investor in Google, Yahoo and PayPal.