4 LIers on Forbes' richest list

Forbes magazine said Wednesday that 214 new billionaires have joined its list of the richest people on the planet -- bringing the total number of people worth at least $1 billion to a record 1,210. Four of those names belong to Long Islanders.

For the second year in a row, the world's richest person was Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim Helú, worth $74 billion. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates ranked second, at $56 billion.

New York State has 67 billionaires, and the richest of all is David Koch, who, with his brother Charles, makes his money in petroleum, chemicals, pipelines, fertilizer, fibers, polymers and forest products. David Koch alone is worth $22 billion, Forbes said. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the state's second's richest person, with a fortune estimated at $18.1 billion.

Long Islanders on the list include James Simons, 72, of East Setauket, the former Stony Brook University math professor who made his fortune in hedge funds and is worth $10.6 billion, Forbes said. Cablevision founder and chairman Charles F. Dolan, 84, of Oyster Bay, and his family are worth $3.3 billion. Cablevision is the owner of Newsday.

Louis Bacon, 54, is listed as a Long Islander by virtue of ownership of "several luxury properties," including Robins Island in Peconic Bay, which is part of the town of Southold. Public records indicate he lives in Oyster Bay. Forbes values Bacon's fortune as $1.7 billion.

Kenneth Langone, 75, of Sands Point, a co-founder of The Home Depot, makes the list with a $1.3-billion fortune. He's a Queens native who started as a stock exchange clerk.

Most of the state's billionaires are listed as living in New York City. Other familiar names among state residents include publishers Rupert Murdoch and Samuel I. Newhouse Jr.; real estate developer Donald Trump; oil and banking heir David Rockefeller; hedge fund managers George Soros and Carl Icahn; cosmetics heirs Leonard and Ronald Lauder of Estée Lauder; and fashionista Ralph Lauren.

One familiar Long Island name not on the Forbes list is Charles Wang, even though the founder of Computer Associates and owner of the Islanders is often referred to in articles as a billionaire. The 2011 billionaires are worth a collective $4.5 trillion, Forbes said.

Forbes says its ranking includes individuals' public holdings, private companies, real estate, yachts, art and cash. Net worths were locked in using stock prices and exchange rates from Feb. 14. The full list is at forbes.com/billionaires.