The Top 8 Billionaires in the World-Part-V

7) Bernard Arnault

Net Worth: $27.5 billion


Source: Luxury goods


Residence: France

• Bling is back, helping fashion icon grab title of richest European as shares of his luxury goods outfit LVMH--maker of Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon--surge 57%.

• LVMH is developing upscale Shanghai commercial property, L'Avenue Shanghai, with Macau billionaire Stanley Ho.

• Renaissance man owns French tour operator Go Voyages, yacht builder Royal Van Lent; has a stake in French retailer Carrefour.

• Built Le Cheval Blanc in ski resort town of Courchevel, France, where he likes to spend New Year's Eve.

• Father, Jean, who died in January, made small fortune in construction; sale of that business later helped fund Arnault's move into real estate and eventually into luxury goods.

• Still a family affair: son Antoine, 32, and daughter Delphine, 34, sit on LVMH's board.

• Wife is a concert pianist; Arnault himself reported to be an excellent piano player.

8) Eike Batista

Net Worth: $27 billion


Source: Mining, oil


Residence: Brazil


• Vowing to become world's richest man--and he may be on his way. This year's biggest gainer added $19.5 billion to his personal balance sheet.

• Son of Brazil's revered former mining minister who presided over mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce got his start in gold trading and mining. Insists Dad didn't help: "All my businesses started from zero. My father was a problem for me because he never let me near Vale."

• Made a pile in resources and other services, but two-thirds of his fortune comes from relatively new source, OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações, the oil-and-gas exploration company he founded in 2007 and took public a year later.

• Police raided his home in 2008, alleging Batista smuggled gold and unfairly influenced the acquisition of a railroad. He denied all wrongdoing, emerged unscathed.

• Onetime champion offshore powerboat racer.

• Formerly married to Playboy cover girl.

• Provided financing to Rio de Janeiro's Olympic committee, helping the city win its bid for 2016 Olympic Games.