JK joins world's super-rich list

She is already wealthier than the Queen, and today author JK Rowling joins the ranks of the world's super-rich. The single mother turned literary sensation rubs shoulders with Rockefellers and Gettys in the Forbes 2004 list, which offers the definitive tally of the globe's richest people.

Rowling consolidates her status as Britain's wealthiest woman with a net worth of one billion dollars.

She is also one of the youngest on the list at 38. She ranks at number 552 on a list of 587 billionaires, whose combined wealth adds up to $1.9 trillion.

The phenomenal success of Rowling's five Harry Potter novels has resulted in sales of 250 million copies worldwide, while the hit movies based on her books have grossed $2 billion - and that is not to mention the value of toy sales.

There are no surprises, however, at the top end of the annual rich list, compiled by international business magazine Forbes.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates maintains his 10-year reign at number one, boasting a net worth of some $46 billion.

The wealthiest Briton is the Duke of Westminster, 52-yearold real estate magnate Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor. At number 36 in the list, he is worth $8.7 billion.

Many of the billionaires on the list are the anonymous heads of massive multinationals. But others are household names such as Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, who ranks 25th overall with $10.6 billion in the bank.

The list proves that the internet can still be a mammoth money-spinner for anyone whose idea captures the public imagination - 31-year-old Google search-engine creators Sergey Brin and Larry Page join the list for the first time. The American pair are on a par with Rowling, at $1 billion each.

Other notable billionaires include the heiress Lily Safra, who is worth $1 billion. The Brazilian-born socialite, known as the Gilded Lily, is famed for her philanthropy.

Astonishingly, one name on the list has even had a brush with the law despite her vast wealth. Octogenarian New York property magnate Leona Helmsley, known as the Queen of Mean for her treatment of employees and legendary bad temper, served 21 months in prison in the Eighties after hiding more than £1million owed to the US government.

For the full list see the next edition of Forbes magazine, out on 15 March, or go to www.forbes.com/billionaires