For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.

Riding surging prices of his telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit América Móvil (), Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helú has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on the planet and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the world’s billionaires.

, news, msgs) co-founder who had held the title of world’s richest for 14 of the previous 15 years. (Microsoft is the publisher of .)

Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago, as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates’ holdings in his personal investment vehicle, Cascade Investments, also soared with the rest of the markets.

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América Móvil

Buffett’s fortune jumped $10 billion, to $47 billion, on rising shares of Berkshire Hathaway (). He ranks third.

The Oracle of Omaha shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs () and $3 billion in General Electric () during the 2008 market collapse. His company also recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion.

Last month, in his annual shareholder letter, Buffett wrote: “We’ve put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.” Many plutocrats did just that. Indeed, last year’s wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.

This year, the world’s billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. The world now has 1,011 10-figure titans, up from 793 a year ago but still shy of the record 1,125 in 2008. Of the billionaires on last year’s list, only 12% saw their fortunes decline.

U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks, but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40% of the world’s billionaires, down from 45% a year ago.

The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world’s richest, down from 44% a year ago.

Of the 97 new billionaires on the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains, adding 104 moguls. The region now has just 14 fewer billionaires than Europe, thanks to several large public offerings and swelling stock markets.

Among the new billionaires are American Isaac Perlmutter, who flipped Marvel Entertainment () to Disney () for $4 billion in December. The “Spider-Man“ mogul netted nearly $900 million in cash and 20 million Disney shares in the transaction.

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