Ah, the memories. Bill Gates, known for so many years to be (by far) the wealthiest person in the world, now has to settle for second place, because a Mexican tycoon came in first (and not by a small margin; Carlos Slim Helú beats him by over $8 billion).

Is this a sign that IT is yesterday’s news? Actually, no: Carlos himself is a telecommunications magnate, and while the top 10 list isn’t dominated by tech people, the top 100 still has its fair share of geeks. With the web growing at a miraculous pace, we’re hoping to see the Google founders eventually joined by more web-based entrepreneurs, although the desktop paradigm will likely remain strong for years to come. Let’s take a look at the current list of top 10 wealthiest people in IT.

#10 Sunil Mittal

Net Worth: $9.5 billion
Company: Bharti Telecom

More proof that if you want to be a multi-billionaire, the telecoms industry is where it’s at. Sunil Mittal is the chairman and managing director of Bharti group, which runs India’s largest GSM mobile phone service. Although Sunil has nearly $9.5 billion dollars, he’s only the 6th richest Indian in the world. Talk about fierce competition.

#9 Naguib Sawiris

Net Worth: $10.0 billion
Company: Orascom Telecom Holding

Naguib Sawiris is the chairman and CEO of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, a multinational GSM mobile phone operating in the emerging markets of Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. As a good indicator of just how fast these markets grow, just look at Naguib’s last year position on Forbes’ list: 278.