Gates tops Forbes list once again

      Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates is the wealthiest businessman in the world, according to Forbes' latest survey. The Las Vegas area, however, can claim at least two listings on Forbes' list of the 200 richest people.
      They are Forrest Mars Sr., whose family built candy giant Mars Inc., and Kirk Kerkorian, who controls 62 percent of outstanding stock in the MGM Grand Inc., owner of the similarly named Strip casino.
      The Mars family, which owns Ethel M. Chocolates of Henderson, ranks ninth with an estimated net worth of $12 billion. Kerkorian ranks 75th at $3.8 billion, according to Forbes.
      Several others on the lists are well known in Las Vegas. They include the Bass family who are worth $6 billion and who are helping develop Lake Las Vegas Resort in Henderson.
      Another is Masayoshi Son, the Japanese software magnate whose company, Softbank Corp., acquired the Comdex shows from Sheldon Adelson's Interface Group for $800 million in 1995. Son is worth $3.5 billion, the magazine reported.
      The Cargill family, which recently sold $28 million in Stratosphere Corp. bonds to financier Karl Icahn, tips the money scales at $8.8 billion and is No. 20. Kerry Packer, the Australian media baron, has become a legend in Las Vegas with his million-dollar gambling sprees here. He's worth $2.4 billion, according to the financial magazine.
      Marvin Davis, a Los Angeles-based oil and real estate tycoon worth $2.2 billion, has been licensed by Nevada gaming regulators. He recently made a $300 million bid for the Desert Inn, according to the Wall Street Journal.
      Ronald Perelman, who ranks 69th with $4 billion in net worth, was granted a gaming license in Nevada last year but hasn't made any major acquisitions of a Nevada casino. His Marvel Entertainment Group recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but he still ranks 69th with $4 billion in net worth.
      Stephen and Riley Bechtel, whose $3 billion engineering and construction empire ranks 96th, own Bechtel Nevada, the prime contractor at the Nevada Test Site.
      Forbes provided a separate ranking of dictators and royalty, excluding them from the global billionaires list since they have no direct role in managing businesses.
      The Sultan of Brunei, worth $38 billion, heads the list, but the Sultan isn't the owner of a 100,000-square-foot house in the Spanish Trail gated community, as frequently rumored, the builder recently said. The Sultan, however, has been known to gamble at the MGM Grand.
      Cuban President Fidel Castro is No. 10 with $1.4 billion. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is worth either $350 million or $16 billion, depending on whether the Royal Collection -- with its crown jewels -- is included, Forbes said.
      Gates topped Forbes magazine's list of the world's top billionaires for the third straight year, and he's pulling away from the pack as his software empire rides the stock market's record-setting wave.
      Gates' net worth doubled to $36.4 billion over the past year. That put him nearly $9 billion ahead of the second-place Walton family, the $27.6 billion heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune.
      Investor Warren Buffett was No. 3 at $23.2 billion and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen stood at No. 6 with $14.1 billion. Among other Americans, the Haas family of Levi Strauss was seventh with $12.3 billion.
     The Associated Press contributed to this report.