China, Russia drive growth in world's billionaires

The Asia Pacific's growth in wealth has also fueled a luxury goods demand, helping grow the fortune of Europe's richest man, LVMH Chief Executive Bernard Arnault, to $41 billion from $27.5 billion. He rose to No. 4 from No. 7.

"The global economy is recovering, but it is not all spread across the board," said Forbes. "Yes, there are increases (the number of billionaires) in Europe, but primarily it is Russia. The United States barely registered an increase."

"In terms of wealth, the dog that isn't barking is Japan," said Forbes, referencing a Sherlock Holmes novel. "(It has) a fairly small number of billionaires compared to the size of the economy."

The number of U.S. billionaires rose to 413 from 403.

Facebook's Moskovitz is also the youngest billionaire in the world at 26 and with a fortune of $2.7 billion, while the honor of being the oldest goes to Swiss tech billionaire Walter Haefner, who is 100 and worth $4 billion.

Canadian David Thomson, who controls Thomson Reuters , widened his lead over his financial news and data rival, New York City Mayor and Bloomberg owner Michael Bloomberg. Thomson rose three spots to No. 17 with $23 billion, while Bloomberg fell seven spots to No. 30 with a fortune of $18.1 billion.

Forbes ranked the billionaires' fortunes at the close of global stock markets on Feb. 14, 2011. The full Forbes ranking of the world's billionaires can be seen at www.forbes.com/billionaires.