The world’s new richest man, Mexican Carlos Slim, and a fresh crop of billionaires in Asia helped lead a comeback for the wealthiest few on the planet in 2010, Forbes magazine said Wednesday.

The publication’s annual rich list reflected a resurgence of wealth after the financial turmoil of 2009, with the top 10 wealthiest worth a combined 342 billion dollars, compared to 254 billion dollars in the previous year.

“The global economy is recovering. The financial markets came back, especially emerging markets,” said magazine editor-in-chief Steve Forbes.

“There’s a 50 percent increase in general global wealth compared to last year,” Forbes said.

Certainly the economy recovered for the super rich, who took a beating during last year’s stock and commodity market collapses, but saw across-the-board gains this year.

Forbes counted 1,011 billionaires from 55 countries, up from 793 last year, though still shy of the pre-crisis 1,125 listed in 2008.

Despite the economic crisis, 2009 ended better than it began for the French luxury goods sector, thanks largely to China’s growing taste for high-end products, encouraging thoughts of a better 2010.

Following the trend set by other global luxury brands, Hermes and LVMH announced fourth quarter sales growth on Thursday and Friday, suggesting the worst of the crisis could be over for the sector.

After announcing that annual profits fell 13 percent to 1.7 billion euros (2.3 billion dollars), LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault said he was pleased with “record” sales figures for December, which he said would “grow in January”.

Former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair is set to take on a highly-paid advisory role at at luxury goods group LVMH.

Blair is understood to be in the final stages of negotiating a six-figure pay package at the group, which is owned by France’s richest man Bernard Arnault.

Blair already gets £2.5m from the U.S. investment bank JP Morgan and a further £2million as an adviser with the finance firm Zurich.

LVMH has bought a 50% stake in St-Emilion’s Château Cheval Blanc from its billionaire chairman and controlling shareholder, Bernard Arnault.

However financial terms were not disclosed in the release, which pointedly failed to mention that LVMH was acquiring the Bordeaux wine from Arnault.

Arnault, reputedly France’s richest man, bought Cheval-Blanc with Belgian businessman Albert Frère in 1998 for a reported €155m.

France’s LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury group, on Monday reported a 23% profit drop for the first six months of 2009 to €687 million ($977 million).

But the company’s turnover edged up 0.2% from the same time last year to €7.81 billion ($11.1 billion) despite a sharp drop in sales of drinks and jewellery.

Watches and jewelry sector posted 73 percent drop in profit, and wines and spirits sectors fell 41 percent.

Luxury goods group LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton has denied it is in negotiations to sell wines and spirits division Moët Hennessy.

A report in the Daily Telegraph newspaper suggested that liquor company Diageo was considering a €12bn ($15.5bn) takeover of LVMH’s drinks arm, which includes brands such as Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, Krug and Veuve Clicquot champagnes, Hennessy cognac and Glenmorangie Scotch whisky.

Diageo’s links with LVMH go back 22 years, when Guinness - one of the groups which went to create Diageo - struck up a joint venture.