Slim Widens Lead Over Gates, Buffett In Global Billionaire Race (AMX, MSFT, BP, KO, MCD, XOM, NYT, WFC, AXP, BRK.A, BRK.B)

Mexico’s Carlos Slim, already the world’s richest person, likely increased his grip on that title thanks to a jump in shares of America Movil (AMX), the mobile phone carrier that represents almost $49 billion of his $70 billion fortune, according to a Bloomberg report. Shares of America Movil have jumped 15% last year, helping Slim top Warren Buffett despite a bullish performance for many of Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A, BRK.B) top holdings in 2010.

Continued slack performance in shares of Microsoft (MSFT), the company he founded, placed Bill Gates behind both Slim in terms of wealth as well. While Gates personally is still a major Microsoft shareholder, holdings for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are spread across more names. As of the end of the third quarter, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation owned shares of BP (BP), Coca-Cola (KO), McDonald’s (MCD) and ExxonMobil (XOM), among other holdings.

Analysts expect Slim’s wealth could grow even more this year as investors look to other emerging markets beyond China and Brazil for other opportunities with Mexico being primed for growth, aided by a recovering U.S. economy. The U.S. is Mexico’s top trading partner.

In October, Forbes named Gates the richest person in the U.S. with Buffett second. In 2010, Slim’s worst-performing investment was New York Times (NYT), which slid 21%, according to Bloomberg News.

At the end of the third quarter, Buffett’s top holdings included Wells Fargo (WFC) and Dow components American Express (AXP) and Coca-Cola.

Investors won’t be sure where Buffett stands until the deadline for end-of-2010 filings hits later this month. at tickerspy.com members can track Buffett’s latest holdings, see a graph of their combined performance, and be notified when new holdings are made public.

Tags: AMX, AXP, BP, BRK-A, BRK-B, KO, MCD, MSFT, NYT, WFC, XOM