New York: There are a record number of billionaires around the world in 2011, but just 14 percent are eligible, Forbes said on Wednesday.
"It's possible to meet a billionaire, fall in love and live happily ever after, but it's not all that likely," Forbes Senior Editor Luisa Kroll said after analyzing the Forbes annual list of the world's richest people, which was released last week.
Of the world's 1,210 billionaires, 175 are available, including 48 women, she said. Thirty-six have never married, 81 are divorced, six are separated and 52 are widowed.
But, Kroll pointed out, many of the technically eligible billionaires -- including Facebook's Dustin Moskovitz, Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker -- have serious partners.
The world's richest man, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, retained his crown for the second year in a row and made more money than anybody in the past year: $20.5 billion, taking his fortune to $74 billion.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held on to second place, growing his wealth to $56 billion from $53 billion last year, and investor Warren Buffett again came in third with $50 billion, up from $47 billion.
The wealth of the world's billionaires jumped 25 percent to $4.5 trillion and their average net worth rose to $3.7 billion from $3.5 billion.
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