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Lakshmi Mittal still Europe's richest

     London: India-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal continues to remain the richest of Europe's 50 billionaires, with an estimated fortune of Euro 24 billion. According to the Luxury Institute, a research organisation specialising in the super-wealthy, the number of billionaires in the world grew to a record 691, an increase of more than 100 on the 2004 total. The billionaires are spread across 45 countries and their aggregated net worth is estimated at 2.2 trillion dollars or Euro 1.76 trillion, reports CNBC. The top 50 European billionaires in this month's survey of the continent's super-rich account for around Euro 300 billion or roughly one-sixth, of that figure. They are mostly older, greying white men. Liliane Bettencourt's sole female presence in our list is no exception, given that her wealth was mostly inherited from her father, founder of the cosmetics giant L'Orial. Seen globally, just eight percent of the billionaires are women. As for up-and-coming billionaires who narrowly missed the list, Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian creator of Red Bull, is now worth at least Euro two billion, while Alex Shnaider, the Ukrainian who owns a vast steel mill, Zaporizhstal, and recently bought F1 team Jordan Grand Prix, is also rumoured to be worth Euro two billion. Iceland, meanwhile, has its first billionaire, Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson. Europe's youngest and most eligible bachelor is surely Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis (21).

      Meanwhile, the prize for greatest spendthrift goes to Roman Abramovich, who has spent Euro 800 million on Pelorus, one of the world's greatest super yachts. Markets are transient, but business acumen is permanent. The richest in our list is Lakshmi Mittal, an Indian national resident in Europe. His NYSE-quoted steel company had a brutal 2005. But he keeps doing the deals and creating the wealth. His high-profile October acquisition of a Ukrainian plant underlines that there's yet more to come from Europe's favourite Asian plutocrat.

The list of Europe's top 10 billionaires is as follows:

    1. Lakshmi Mittal, UK, Euro 24 billion: Europe's richest man is a London-based Indian national with a major stock holding in the United States. But despite having some Euro 20bn to his name, Lakshmi Mittal has had a tough year. Mittal shot to international superstardom in October 2004 when he merged his public and private steel interests with International Steel Group, a company based in Ohio. The amalgamated company, quoted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and on Amsterdam's main market as Mittal Steel, is the worlds largest steel producer. Mittal took a personal dividend of Euro 1.6bn as a success fee on doing the deal, and saw his wealth soar.

     2.Ingvar Kamprad,Switzerland, Euro 22.8 billion: The rise and rise of the Swiss-based Swede continues. The man who put the 'I' and 'K' into his company's very famous name continues to grow the business. That is quite a feat, given the difficulty that IKEA consistently finds with the planning laws in many of the European markets in which it operates. Kamprad is notoriously careful with his money. He reportedly flies economy and stays in cheap hotels. However, he has a beautiful estate in Sweden and a vineyard in

     3.Karl Albrecht, Germany, Euro 19 billion: Karl and younger brother Theo founded the Aldi International supermarket chain in the Ruhr Valley in 1946. Their father had been a miner who was forced to leave his Essen mine through ill health. Frau Albrecht then founded a shop, and the boys have now created a vast discount supermarket with more than 7,000 outlets and more than Euro 51bn in sales. Albrecht is now retired and guards his privacy most jealously. A keen horticulturalist, his other main passion is golf.

    4. Liliane Bettencourt, France, Euro 17.2 billion: Liliane Bettencourt has done a good job of holding on to the family inheritance. The main source of her wealth is the L'Orial cosmetics company, founded by her father, Eugene Schueller. Through a labyrinthine system of holding companies, Bettencourt still has control of L'Orial. She also has some three percent in Nestli, as part of a stock and cash deal that allowed the Swiss company into the L'Orial fold in the 1970s.

     5. Bernard Arnault, France, Euro 17 billion: LVMH's Bernard Arnault has dominated the European luxury goods market for decades. His ability to spot a deal is matched by an acute eye for talent. He has used both attributes to create a huge business that brings together some of the most famous luxury brand names in the world. The Louis Vuitton, Moet [et Chandon] and Hennessy of LVMH are just the beginning. LVMH includes Christian Dior, Givenchy, Kenzo, Donna Karan and TAG Heuer.

     6.Roman Abramovich, Russia, Euro 15billion If plutocrats come in two types ' the thrifty and the spendthrift ' Abramovich is definitely in the latter category. The last couple of years have seen Abramovich enjoying a great deal of conspicuous consumption. He has dropped some Euro 800m on his yacht Pelorus, a leading English football club, Chelsea, and one or two other baubles. Nevertheless, his net worth is rocketing.

     7. Amancio Ortega, Spain, Euro 14 billion Ortega is the marketing genius behind the Zara chain, a brand and look that has swept all before it in Europe. His money comes from his stake in Inditex, a holding company for Zara and five other fashion chains. His story is literally one of rags to riches. He has always worked in the clothing trade. He started out making underwear and outer garments with the help of his first wife. The son of a railway worker, he is now Spains wealthiest man.

     8. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy, Euro 12.9 billion: Berlusconi is a self-made man, financially and politically (he is, of course, prime minister of Italy). He began in business as a building contractor, made good money and began diversifying into the media ' an area that he loves and which was to become the main driver of his fortune ' in the late 1970s. His principal investment vehicle is Fininvest, which has a controlling stake in Mediaset, the largest commercial broadcaster in Italy. Other major assets are investments in the insurance, publishing and banking sectors.

     9.Stefan Persson, Sweden, Euro 12.3 billion: Persson took over from his father, who founded the Hennes & Mauritz retail network in 1947. Stefan took the business to a new level, recording sales of over Euro 8bn, and building the network of stores to over 1,000 across Europe, the United States and Canada. He enjoys outdoor sports, including tennis and skiing.

     10. Dieter Schwarz,Germany, Euro 11 billion: Seen within Germany as following in the footsteps of the Albrecht brothers, the somewhat shy and retiring Dieter Schwarz has built the privately owned Lidl & Schwarz into one of Europes biggest grocery retailers.