Forbes 2012 Billionaires: Top Ten Richest People in the World [PHOTOS]

Forbes magazine published its celebrated list of the world's wealthiest people Wednesday, with Carlos Slim bagging the number one spot for the third year running.

The Telmex mogul from Mexico topped the list with an estimated worth of $69 billion, followed closely by Microsoft Corp cofounder Bill Gates and Warren Buffett at the second and third positions. Bernard Arnault retained his number four position on the list.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg jumped to 35th rank at an estimated worth of $17.5 billion, which Forbes say could rise even more when the company goes public this year.

In addition to many of the familiar names occupying the ranks, Forbes added 128 newcomers to the list, including Alejandro Santo Domingo of the Columbia based-Santo Domingo Group.

All in all, 1,226 billionaires from 58 countries made it to the annual list this year, with an overall worth of a staggering 4.6 trillion. Among the billionaires representing the list, 425 come from the U.S. alone.

However, 117 were knocked off the list, owing to the sluggish economy and unstable financial markets. Also only 16 were added to the billionaire list this year, with the average worth of each remaining at $3.7 billion.

Forbes, the well known media company in the U.S., began ranking the world's billionaires 25 years ago, with Japanese real estate tycoon Yoshiaka Tsutsumi topping the 1987 list with a net worth of $20 billion.

Click on the slideshow here to view the ten richest people in the world in 2012.