#10 Karl Albrecht- $23.5 billion

Karl Hans Albrecht (born 1920 in Essen, Germany) is a German entrepreneur who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Theo.

His 6,500-store Aldi chain began as a single grocery in the Ruhr Valley run until the end of WWII by their mother. The formula: Customers would rather scuttle fancy decor and services in exchange for lower prices.

Despite a flagging retail sector, Aldi's total sales in 2002 reached $49 billion - still just a fifth the size of Wal-Mart's sales. The arrangement had Karl manage the southern, more profitable half of Germany, while younger Theo minded the north. Karl has since retired, leaving the company in the hands of nonfamily members. (His two children do not work at Aldi.) Both brothers fiercely guard their privacy, though now and again information emerges. Word is Karl raises orchids and enjoys a round of golf on his own 27-hole course.

He served in the German Army during World War II.

#9 Amancio Ortega Gaona - $23.5 billion

Amancio Ortega Gaona (born March 28, 1936, Spain) is a fashion entrepreneur, Spain's richest man and in 2010 the 9th richest man in the world (Forbes) and the founder, with his then-wife Rosalia Mera, and chairman of the Inditex Group. He currently lives with his second wife in a discreet apartment building in the centre of A Coruña (Corunna).

Ortega arrived at La Coruña, Galicia, at age 14, due to the job of his father, railway worker.

Starting as a gofer in various shirt stores in A Coruña, Galicia, in 1963 he founded Confecciones Goa (his initials in reverse), which made bathrobes.

In 1975 he opened the first store in what would grow into the enormously popular chain of fashion stores called Zara. He is the majority shareholder of the Inditex group (Industrias de Diseño Textil Sociedad Anónima) which includes the brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy's Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear/Often and Bershka and has more than 14,000 employees.

Ortega keeps a very low profile and there are practically no photographs of him (except from one photo published at the Inditex website). He refuses to wear a tie, and likes to dress in blue jeans. He is said to take a very active part in the production and design process in the company.

#8 Eike Batista - $27 billion

Eike Batista (born 1957 in Brazil) is the son of the former Brazilian mining minister. He has vowed to become the world's richest man and may well become just that having added $19.5 billion to his wealth in a single year!

He began his assault on dominating the world's rich list by trading in gold and mining before moving on to resources and other services.

Two-thirds of his fortune comes from relatively new source, OGX, the oil-and-gas exploration company he founded in 2007 and took public a year later.

H was a onetime champion offshore powerboat racer and was formerly married to a former Playboy cover girl, Luma de Oliveira.

Batista provided significant financing to Rio de Janeiro's Olympic committee, thereby helping the city win its bid for 2016 Olympic Games.

#7 Bernard Arnault - $27.5 billion

Bernard Arnault (born 5 March 1949) is a French businessman.

He is the 7th richest person in the world in March 2010 with a net worth of $27.5 billion US dollars, according to Forbes.

A native of Roubaix, Arnault owns 51% of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), which is also partly owned by Christian Dior. Arnault is the Chairman and CEO of both companies. He also owns Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg, an art auction house.

As of March 2007, Arnault owns a 47.5% majority[2] of LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), along with Christian Dior SA. Arnault is the Chairman and CEO of both companies.

His daughter Delphine Arnault is actively involved in the management of LVMH. Arnault also owned the art auction house Phillips de Pury & Company from 1999 to 2003.

#6 Lawrence Ellison - $28 billion

Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, a major database software firm. Ellison was born in New York City to Florence Spellman, a 19-year-old unwed mother who later placed her nine-month old son for adoption to her distant relatives. Lillian and Louis Ellison took him into their home, a two-bedroom apartment located in a modest lower middle class Jewish neighborhood in South Chicago.

Ellison recalled to an interviewer that he had a warm and loving mother opposite to an austere and unsupportive father. At South Shore High School, he was a bright but inattentive student. At 15, he began a long-term relationship that lasted for five years and ended sorely - depending on whom is asked, he unsuccessfully proposed marriage either once or twice. He lasted until the end of his sophomore year at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign but dropped out following Lillian's death. After a summer in Northen California, he returned home to study at the University of Chicago but left after one quarter. Ending his attempts to finish college, he set out for California.

In 1990, Oracle laid off 10 percent of the work force because of the mismatch between cash and revenues. The crisis which almost caused Oracle's bankruptcy came about because of the tactics used by Oracle's sales force. The salespeople subscribed to an 'up-front' sales strategy, in which they tried to incent customers to buy the biggest amounts of software all at once. However, the customers were delivered software that didn't work and promised "vapor ware" that didn't exist. Oracle had to restate earnings twice due to these tactics and the company would later settle class-action lawsuits that had been filed because of its flawed financial statements. Larry
Ellison would later say his company made "an incredible business mistake.