EXPERIMENT 3 . THE BRIDGE .WEEK 1

ARTICLES

CARLOS SLIM

Microsoft founder Bill Gates looks to have lost his title as the world's richest man, toppled from top spot by the Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim.
Three months ago the cigar-chomping Mr Slim quietly slipped past legendary US investor Warren Buffett to take second place in the global wealth league.
Now, thanks to a surge in the shares of his America Movil group, Mr Slim has claimed pole position, according to the Mexican online financial publication, Sentido Común.

It was Sentido Común's founder, Eduardo Garcia, who highlighted Mr Slim's rapidly rising wealth in April, although by his calculations the Mexican had not only beaten Mr Buffett in the wealth stakes by then but also edged past Mr Gates.
Now, however, Mr Garcia says there is no doubt that the little-known Mexican has finally captured the coveted top slot, following a surge in America Movil's shares over the second quarter. This is estimated to have boosted his fortune to an estimated $67.8bn (£33.6bn) - equivalent to 8% of Mexico's gross domestic product - compared with $59.2bn for the Microsoft mogul, putting him in the lead by a decisive $8.6bn.
"When I put Slim ahead three months ago Forbes bumped him up to second place (in world rankings) a few days later," Mr Garcia told Reuters.
"Let's see if the same happens again."
Shares in Mr Slim's mobile phone empire surged by 27% over the second quarter, compared with a 5.7% rise for Microsoft. Mr Slim's bank, Inbursa, also saw its stock jump by 20%.
Mr Gates has headed the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest for more than a decade. But, like Mr Buffett, he is rapidly becoming as well known for giving his money away as he is for accumulating it. Both he and the "Sage of Omaha" have promised to give most of their money to charitable causes

Fiona Walsh, ''Mexican tycoon overtakes Bill Gates as world's richest man'', Guardian Unlimited
Tuesday July 3, 2007. source: http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2117330,00.html

RATAN TATA

Ratan Tata lives alone with two German shepherds in a modest apartment a floor below his stepmother in central Mumbai, formerly called Bombay. The 69-year-old still goes to the office every day and, though he owns a collection of Western luxury cars and has a pilot's license, shuns ostentation. Tata has a reputation to defend as a living legend in the business world, shrouded in an aura of humility that borders on self-denial.

Tata Steel is now the world's fifth largest producer of steel after its takeover of Corus was finalized earlier this month.Despite the appearances, though, Tata is not only one of the richest people of India, but also the last scion of a business dynasty that arguably has had more influence than any other company on the 1.1 billion Indians on the subcontinent.
At the end of the 19th century, the firm's founding father, Jamsetji Tata, was inspired by the idea of helping restore India's wealth. Long before many western industrial nations followed suit, his company introduced the eight-hour working day (1912), maternity leave (1928) and even profit sharing for employees (1934).

It is thanks to Tata that this massive country had its first weaving mill, its first hydraulic power and steel plant, its first college -- and its first luxury hotel. The company thus became both a symbol and reflection of the country -- including the forays into the planned economy, bitter expropriation battles and occasional chaos triggered by mismanagement.

"We Indians Have to Struggle to Catch Up", SPIEGEL ONLINE 2007, April 09, 2007. source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,476262,00.html

Zhang Yin

It was one of China's proverbs that Mao loved to quote; women, he would say, hold up half the sky. But until the communist revolution of 1949 the Chinese had not meant it. The Chinese imperial system, famously, had been one of the most anti-feminist societies on Earth. Women had no rights, existing only to have babies and please men, the richer forced to hobble and disfigure themselves by binding their feet from birth to affirm their essential purpose - decorative daintiness.
but last week it was reported that China's richest billionaire is now a woman - 49-year-old Zhang Yin is worth a cool $3.4bn (£1.8bn). The tycoon is the world's richest self-made woman, having built China's largest paper recycling business, Nine Dragons Paper, which was floated on the Hong Kong stock market just six months ago. She seems an eloquent symbol of the new China; a capitalist whose success and wealth was unthinkable before Deng Xiaoping freed China from the embrace of Maoism in 1978. It is capitalists such as her who are proof that paradoxically it is communist China that is home to the globe's most vigorous capitalism. And she is a woman.
Thanks to Mao, Zhang Yin's a billionaireThe revolutionary leader transformed women's lives, but China still has a long way to go.

Will HuttonSunday October 15, 2006The Observer