Mukesh Ambani dethrones Jack Ma as Asia's richest person

Forbes' 35th annual list of the world's billionaires is topped by Amazon CEO and Founder Jeff Bezos for the fourth year in a row.

His net worth is $177 billion, up by $64 billion from a year ago as a result of surging Amazon shares, Forbes said.

Meanwhile, SpaceX founder Elon Musk came second and was the biggest gainer in dollar terms.

Ambani, the richest person in India and Asia, is ranked tenth on the global billionaires' list. He reclaimed his spot as Asia's richest person with a net worth of $84.5 billion.

Ambani nudged out Jack Ma of China, Asia's richest person a year ago, whose rank dropped to 26 (from 17 last years) despite a nearly $10 billion jump in his fortune.

Further, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, the second richest person in India, is ranked 24th on the global list of billionaires with a net worth of $50.5 billion.

Chairman of the Poonawalla Group and founder of the Serum Institute of India, Cyrus Poonawalla is ranked 169th on the Forbes list of world's billionaires with a net worth of $12.7 billion.

At 724, the US has more billionaires than any other country in the world (up from 614 last year). China is closing the gap with 698 billionaires, up from 456 last year.

As a result of the gains in China, Beijing is home to more billionaires than anywhere in the world, overtaking New York City, Forbes said.

On the global list, 106 are under 40 years of age. The youngest billionaire is 18-year-old Kevin David Lehmann of Germany, whose father Guenther Lehmann transferred his stake in drugstore chain dm-drogerie markt to him.

His worth is $3.3 billion and ranks 925th on the list, while the oldest billionaire is 99-year old US insurance tycoon George Joseph.

The number of billionaires on Forbes' 35th annual list of the world's wealthiest exploded to an unprecedented 2,755 -- 660 more than a year ago, altogether worth $13.1 trillion, it said.

There are a record-high 493 newcomers to the list, roughly one new billionaire every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong and 98 from the US.

French billionaire Bernard Arnault, who oversees an empire of 70 brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora, is the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $150 billion.

He is followed by the chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates ($124 billion) and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg ($97 billion).

The top 10 richest are worth $1.15 trillion, up by two-thirds from $686 billion last year. Altogether, Europe's billionaires are $1 trillion richer than a year ago.

The richest woman this year is cosmetics heir Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of France, who with a net worth of $73.6 billion is ranked 12th.