Stanley Ho recently matched his own world record price paid for a truffle when he bought a couple white truffles for a total cost of $330,000 at a truffle auction.

The billionaire made his winning bid through representatives at the event held at his own Grand Lisboa hotel in Macau last week end.

Ho’s winning bid bought him a giant truffle from Italy’s central Tuscany region that weighed about 900 grams and a smaller one of about 400 grams.

Hurun Research Institute has released the Hurun Rich List 2010, the twelfth annual ranking of the richest individuals in China.

The list names 1,363 individuals with a personal wealth of 1 billion yuan (US$150 million), up from 1,000 last year and just 24 a decade ago.

China – the world’s second largest economy – has the fastest growing wealthy population in the world, according to a report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

65-year old Zong Qinghou of Wahaha is the richest man in China with a personal fortune of US$12 billion.

The ranks of Asia-Pacific millionaires are likely to continue growing faster than those from developed countries as regional economies led by China and India power ahead, a report said on Tuesday.

The study on high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) — defined as anyone with investable assets of at least one million US dollars — was issued by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and consultancy firm Capgemini.

“Moving forward, China and India will lead the way in the region with economic expansion and HNWI growth likely to keep outpacing more developed economies,” the Asia-Pacific Wealth Report said.

Forbes released its 2010 list of the 400 richest people in America this week, and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was in the top spot for the 17th consecutive year.

Industrialist Warren Buffett, Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has bagged the second place this year with fortunes worth $45 billion.

While worth $27 billion dollars, software company Oracle’s co-founder and CEO Larry Ellison is the third richest American.

With a net worth that grew by nearly $4.9 billion, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had the largest percentage gain this year, jumping from 158 to number 35 with $6.9 billion.

Queen of Pop Madonna has been offered the opportunity to stage a gig residency in Las Vegas, according to reports.

The singer has apparently been approached about a five-year run of shows, which could earn her more than $1 billion, reports the Sun.

The mega deal would make her the world’s third female billionaire entertainer, alongside chat show queen Oprah Winfrey and Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

With 62 of its alumni now billionaires, Harvard tops Forbes’ list of ‘Billionaire Universities’, followed by Stanford that boasts of 28 billionaire graduates.

The number of Harvard alumni who are billionaires swelled to 62, up from 54 in 2009, “more than any other American university by a long shot,” Forbes said.

Harvard’s billionaire alumni are an accomplished group. They include Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and media tycoon Sumner Redstone.