Bermuda still abounds with wealth despite the economic downturn, if the Forbes World Billionaires 2010 list is anything to go by.

The magazine's annual rich list of billionaires revealed that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, 68, who owns a Tucker's Town property and made his fortune through Bloomberg, was highest ranked of those who have an interest in the Island at 23 with a net worth of $18 billion.

Next up was 73-year-old three-time Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his family, who own the Blue Horizons property, also in Tucker's Town, at number 74, with $9 billion to their names.

Fidelity Investments founder 79-year-old Edward (Ned) Johnson III, who helped to finance the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and owns a home in Somerset, came in at 85th on the list with a fortune of $8 billion. His daughter Abigail, 48, holds 48th spot with an estimated worth of $11.5 billion.

Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, 65, who has $7.7 billion to his name, was at 88, following the success of his Bermuda-based shipping company Frontline Ltd.

Outside of the Top 100 Curt Engelhorn, an 83-year-old German living in Switzerland, who owns Five Star Island, occupied 117th place, with a fortune of $6.3 billion — the same amount as last year. Mr. Engelhorn was one of the owners of Bermuda-based Corange Ltd., which in turn controlled German pharmaceutical company Boeringher Mannheim. He netted $5 billion when he sold the company to Swiss drugmaker Roche Holdings in 1997 for $11 billion and has given large amounts of money to the Bermuda College and the Bermuda Biological Station.

The only Bermuda resident on the list was 77-year-old American and former owner of Perot's Island, Marion MacMillan Pictet, who featured at 176th with $4.5 billion. She is a descendant of William W Cargill, who started with one grain elevator in post-Civil War Iowa.

Tucker's Town property owner Ross Perot, 79, who ran unsuccessfully in two US general elections, holds 287th position — down more than 150 places on 2009 — with a $3.3 billion fortune.

Ronald Lauder, 66, claimed 367th place on the list with an estimated $2.6 billion. The international investor has a large stake in Bermuda-based Central European Media although the son of beauty queen Estée Lauder traces much of his fortune to the Estée cosmetics empire.

Mexico's Carlos Slim, the son of an immigrant shopkeeper who amassed a $53.5 billion fortune and bought a major stake in the New York Times, became the first person from a developing nation to be named the world's richest person.

Mr. Slim, a telecom magnate, edged out US billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to earn the top spot on Forbes' list of the world's richest people — the first time a non-American has topped the list since 1994. The jump in position comes following a year in which Mr. Slim's cell phone holdings rebounded in value.