Li Ka-shing

Li Ka-shing moves back into the top 10 for the first time since 2007. He is Asia's richest person for the first time since 2004, despite a $500 million drop in net worth. One of the great empire builders, Li's businesses employ 270,000 ­people around the world in 53 countries; he built one out of every 7 residences in Hong Kong, his ­Hutchison Port ­Holdings handles about 13% of th

e world's container traffic, and his recently acquired Northumbrian Water supplies clean drinking water to 4.5 million people in England and sewerage services to ­another 2.7 million. Li also has personal investments in tech startups like Facebook and Spotify. Says the octogenarian: "A person investing in technology will feel younger." One of Asia's most generous individuals, his foundation has donated more than $1.6 billion to date, mostly to educational organizations and medical research. Li quit school at age 12 to help support his family. A decade later he started his own business making toys and, later, plastic flowers.