New York, 5 Nov. (AKI) - Italian prime minister and media-mogul Silvio Berlusconi's wealth decreased this year, but he moved up an annual global ranking of billionaires published earlier this week. The US-based Forbes magazine's 2009 rich list ranked him as the 72nd wealthiest individual in the world, compared with 90th last year.

Berlusconi is now Italy's second richest man, with net assets of 6.5 billion dollars, compared with 9.4 billion dollars in 2008. He has overtaken Italian luxury eyewear king Leonardo Del Vecchio, whose net worth is 6.3 billion dollars, compared to 10 billion dollars last year.

Del Vecchio's company Luxottica boasts brands like RayBan.

Forbes, however, ranks European chocolate giant Michele Ferrero, owner of Ferrero SpA, the richest Italian in the world, with an estimated net worth of 9.5 billion dollars, compared to 11 billion dollars last year.

However, the richest Italians cannot compete with the vast fortune of American computer software tycoon and owner of Microsoft, Bill Gates, whose net wealth is estimated at 40 billion dollars.

Out of the world's top 10 richest billionaires, three are from the United States and two are German. The rest are from Mexico, Switzerland, India, The United Kingdom and Spain.