(CNN) -- This year's Forbes Rich List is notable for the absence of Bill Gates at the top. After 13 years as the world's richest man, he has finally been toppled by his friend Warren Buffett who has an estimate fortune of $62bn.

The Middle East's richest man: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud

The list -- which is a run down of the 1,125 richest people on the planet -- estimates a person's total net worth in US dollars based on the closing stock prices of the stock exchanges on which their company is listed.

The Middle East's richest man is Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud, the 51 year old Saudi who has an estimated net worth of $21bn. He ranks 19th in the list and is considered to be the most active and successful investor in the Middle East. He took his investment vehicle, Kingdom Holding, public on the Saudi stock exchange in July 2007.

The company contains investments in well-known global companies such as Citigroup and News Corp. In the early 1990s, Alwaleed made a risky bet on Citigroup that paid off massively and has in recent years accounted for nearly half his fortune.

Kuwaiti construction heir Nasser Al-Kharafi is the next richest in 46th place with an inherited fortune of $14bn. He heads M.A. Al-Kharafi & Sons, one of the largest diversified conglomerates in the Arab world.

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Americana, the company's lucrative food division is extremely successful and has exclusive franchise rights in the region for Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays and other big global brands. Faiza, his sister was the first woman president of Kuwait University.

Naguib Sawiris, the eldest son of telecoms billionaire and Orascom Telecom founder Onsi Sawiris ranks next in 60th place with a net worth of $12.7bn.

In addition to Orascom Telecom, his assets -- via European holding company Weather Investments -- include Italian phone company, Wind and leading Greek telecom companies Wind Hellas and Tellas. His brother, Nassef is in 68th place, with an estimated worth of $11bn and his father Onsi who serves as chairman of Orascom comes in at 96th place with $9bn. E-mail to a friend