KUWAIT CITY, March 5, (Agencies): Some members of two prominent Kuwaiti families - Al-Kharafi and Alghanim - made it to the 2013 Forbes Billionaires List. Jassem, Fawzi and Mohannad Al-Kharafi took the first positions locally and landed on number 1,161 in the world with a net worth of $1.25 billion; while Qutaiba and Bassam Al-Ghanim were ranked fourth and fifth respectively in Kuwait and 1,175th in the world with a net worth of $1.2 billion.

The list now boasts of 1,426 names, with an aggregate net worth of $5.4 trillion, up from $4.6 trillion, and 210 new 10-figure fortunes. Once again, the US leads the list with 442 billionaires, followed by Asia-Pacific with 386, Europe with 366, the Americas with 129, and the Middle East & Africa with 103. Resurgent asset prices are the driving force behind the rising wealth of the super-rich around the globe. While last year almost as many fortunes fell as rose, this year’s gainers outnumbered losers by 4-to-1. Many new names were included in the list, thanks to free-spending consumers, such as Diesel jeans mogul Renzo Rosso at $3 billion, retailer Bruce Nordstrom at $1.2 billion and designer Tory Burch at $1 billion. Carlos Slim is once again the world’s richest person, followed by Bill Gates.