The net worth of the richest Americans grew by 13% in the past year to $1.7 trillion (€1.3tn), Forbes magazine said, and a familiar cast populated the top of the annual list, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison and the Koch brothers.

A Chinese dumpling maker and a Mexican telecom mogul are among a record 946 billionaires with a combined wealth of US$3.5 trillion (€2.6trillion), according to Forbes magazine’s 2007 rankings of the world’s richest people.