While Cyprus may be struggling with financial meltdown, in the Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s richest people, as rising stock markets swelled the ranks of billionaires, which included a record number of women.

With a net worth of $76 billion Bill Gates he Microsoft Corp co-founder reclaimed the top spot after a four-year hiatus, toppling Mexico‘s telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who placed second at $72b, Forbes said in announcing the list.

There are three Cypriots in the Forbes list. Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of budget airline EasyJet, comes in at 520th with a wealth of $3.1b. His brother, Polys, also through EasyJet, is in 988th position with a fortune of $1.8b.
Shipping magnate and naturalised Cypriot John Fredriksen comes in somewhat higher on the list in 76th place with his fortune of $13.6b. He started trading oil in the 1960s in Beirut, bought his first tankers in the 1970s, ran crude oil for Iran in the 1980s, then in the 1990s, with Frontline Ltd, established himself as the king of the tanker trade.
In 2005 he got into the deepwater drilling business with Seadrill; that company now puts $400m a year in dividends into his pocket. In 2012, with the tanker business in the toilet, ship prices depressed, and his Frontline in need of recapitalisation, Fredriksen spun off its young ships and newbuild orders as Frontline 2012. Shares surged on the Oslo exchange, and he expects to list the company on the NYSE soon. Fredriksen is also big in fish farming with Marine Harvest, which in 2013 bought Morpol and a stake in Grieg Seafood. He aims to consolidate the industry. This son of a welder long ago gave up Norwegian citizenship to become a Cypriot. He runs his empire from London mansion and relaxes in Marbella.

There are also three Greeks’

Spiro Latsis is in the 506th place of the Forbes’ list with 3.2 billion dollars in property. Spiro Latsis is one of the strongest men in Greece’s shipping industry. He is the son of the tycoon John S. Latsis and has been managing the family fortune since his father passed away in 2003.

Aristotelis Mistakidis and Philip Niarchos are placed in the 687th position with their property amounting to 2.5 billion dollars. Philip Niarchos is the oldest son of Stavros Niarchos, one of the world’s richest shipping magnates. He inherited the bulk of his father’s art collection which includes some of the world’s most recognizable pieces of art. It is said to be the largest private collection of Van Goghs, including a self-portrait of the painter after having cut off his own ear. Niarchos also owns some of the most emblematic works by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.