For the second consecutive year Jamaican-born Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin has barely made in on to Forbes Magazine's annual list of the world's richest people. 

The list which was published on Wednesday, ranked Mr. Lee at 937th out of just over 1,000 billionaires. His net worth was placed at approximately CAD$1 billion. Four years ago, Mr. Lee-Chin was worth $2.1 billion. Mr. Lee-Chin, who is 59 years old, has not seen the best of times since the global financial meltdown. Last year, he sold his Canadian wealth management and mutual fund business AIC to Manulife. AIC Barbados also missed three deadlines to repay bondholders the nearly US50 million they invested. Forbes magazine says the Jamaican born businessman still has a stake in Columbus Communications, National Commercial Bank and Total Finance in Trinidad & Tobago. It says his personal real estate portfolio includes 250 acres of beach front property in Jamaica and homes in Canada and Florida. The new richest man in the world Carlos Slim. And Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim has topped Forbes magazine's billionaire's list - the first time since 1994 that an American has not led the rankings. His telecommunications company America Movil is the parent company of Claro Jamaica. Mr. Slim's fortune rose by US$18.5 billion last year to US$53.5 billion. That beat Microsoft founder Bill Gates US$53 billion into second place, with US investor Warren Buffet with $43 billion at third. Forbes said in 2009, 332 names left the list after a tough year, but the total number of billionaires on this year's list rose from 793 to 1,011. A spokesman for Carlos Slim refused to confirm the Forbes estimate of the Mexican tycoon's wealth, saying they did not waste time on such calculations, but welcomed the result. The year's biggest gainer, Brazilian mining tycoon Eike Batista, broke into the top 10 for the first time. He came in at number seven, having boosting his wealth by US$19.5 billion to US$27 billion.

-- Edited by ruptionlink on Thursday 11th of March 2010 11:56:39 AM