Chicago billionaires : Oprah, Citadel's Griffin, Crown family

(Crain's) — Oprah Winfrey, hedge fund manger Kenneth Griffin and toy maker Ty Warner are among the 18 Illinois residents on Forbes magazine's "World Billionaires."

The annual list — a snapshot of wealth as of Feb. 12 — ranks individuals based on their estimated net worth.

Carlos Slim Helu, a Mexican tycoon, upset Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the world's richest man. Mr. Helu has an estimated net worth of $53.5 billion, which put him just ahead of Mr. Gates' $53 billion.

Chicago's Lester Crown and family ranked the highest among the Illinois residents who made this year's list. The Crown family's net worth of $4.1 billion put it at 208th place among more than 1,000 billionaires.

Mr. Warner's $2.9 billion landed him at No. 342, while Ms. Winfrey's $2.4 billion put her in 400th place. Mr. Griffin, founder of Citadel Investment Group LLC, came in at 488 with $2 billion.

Some of Carlos Slim's businesses:

• Telmex (which includes Prodigy Internet)
• Telcel
• America Movil
• Banco Inbursa
• Sanborn's
• Sears
• Mixup
• Saks Fifth Avenue (only one in Mexico)
• Cigatam
• Condumex
• Percentage of stock in the New York Times (largest shareholder that is not a family member)
• Carso Construction