Seventeen Israelis make Forbes billionaires list

Seventeen Israelis made the 2012 Forbes list of billionaires Monday, with shipping magnate brothers Idan and Eyal Ofer topping the list.

The number is four more than the year before; the 2012 list counted 13 Israeli billionaires. The combined wealth of the 17 is estimated to be $46.5 billion.

Four of those on the list are newcomers to the high-rollers club: high-techie Shaul Shani, with $3 billion; diamond polisher Dan Gertler, worth $2.2 billion; banker and oil prospector Tzadik Bino with $1.05 billion; and pharmaceuticals investor Mori Arkin, with $1.05 billion, according to Forbes Israel.

Of the 17, Idan Ofer was ranked highest in the overall listings: No. 182 in the world, with $6.5 billion. His brother Eyal came in a tight second in the Israeli group of billionaires at No. 198, worth $6 billion. The two inherited much of their fortune from their father, Sammy Ofer, who died in 2011.

The Forbes list included a record 1,426 billionaires, worth some $5.4 trillion.

As in years past, the top of the list was peppered with members of the tribe, including Larry Ellison — owner of Oracle — whose $43 billion makes him the richest Jew in the world; Michael Bloomberg with $27 billion; and Sheldon Adelson with $26.5 billion.