Bill Gates tops Forbes rich list

Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gestures next to his wife Melinda French Gates during the session 'Sustainable Development: A Vision for the Future' in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos January 23, 2015. More than 1,500 business leaders and 40 heads of state or government attend the Jan. 21-24 meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to network and discuss big themes, from the price of oil to the future of the Internet.[Photo/Agencies]

Of the record 197 women, the highest-ranked was Wal-Mart Stores Inc heiress Christy Walton, who was eighth at $41.7 billion.

France's Liliane Bettencourt, who got much of her wealth from cosmetics company L'Oreal SA, was 10th at $40.1 billion.

Zuckerberg, 30, rose to 16th place from 21st last year, as his net worth grew to $33.4 billion.

The youngest billionaires were Evan Spiegel, 24, and Bobby Murphy, 25, who co-founded mobile messaging app Snapchat, and are each worth $1.5 billion.

Meanwhile, Jordan ranked 1,741st with a $1 billion net worth. The 52-year-old is majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team, but is better known for his Hall of Fame playing days with the Chicago Bulls and endorsement contract with Nike Inc, which makes Air Jordan shoes.

Jordan's business manager did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States had the most billionaires, with 536, followed by China at 213, Germany at 103 and India at 90.

Russia, which has struggled with currency and oil market turmoil, saw its collection of billionaires fall to 88 from 111, Forbes said.