Italian premier and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi rose to second richest Italian in the annual Forbes list behind Nutella king Michele Ferrero.
Ferrero was the wealthiest Italian for the second year running, coming in 40th in a list headed by Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Mexican telecoms mogul Carlo Slim.
Berlusconi was 70th, a place above Luxottica eyewear magnate Leonardo Del Vecchio who was second to Ferrero last year.
The Italian premier had been the richest Italian for years before he was overtaken by the pair last year.
The next highest Italian in this year's list is Giorgio Armani in 224th place.
The world's super-billionaires have lost some two trillion dollars over the last year, Forbes said.
The moguls hardest hit by the global economic crisis have been in Russia, India and Turkey.
New York has reclaimed the laurel of most super-rich (55) from Moscow, which fell from 87 to 32.
Gates, who was overtaken by Buffet and Slim last year, regained the title of world's richest man with 40 billion dollars compared to Buffet's 37 billion and Slim's 35.
Ferrero had 9.5 billion, Berlusconi 6.5 and Del Vecchio 6.3.
