Slight drops in the estimated fortunes of Jim Goodnight and John Sall – the co-founders of software giant SAS – sent them both lower in the annual Forbes Billionaires list.

However, the duo is still worth more than $11 billion, the magazine says.

Forbes on Monday released its annual “Richest People on the Planet” list, and the majority owners of privately held SAS dropped while the total list of billioanries grew to a record 1,645.

Goodnight ranks No. 177 at $7.5 billion.

That’s a drop of 23 spots from 2013’s ranking when Forbes estimated his net worth at $7.7 billion.

The dip in Goodnight’s fortune still leaves him in a far better position than 2009 when the recession helped reduce his net worth to $6.1 billion, based on Forbes’ figure.

Sall comes in at No. 408 on the new list at $3.7 billion.

His fortune dipped from $3.8 billion in 2013 when he was ranked No. 353.

In 2009, Sall’s fortune totalled $3.1 billion, according to Forbes.

Their company, however, reported a record $3 billion in sales in 2013 with revenues increasing 5 percent. 

A record 1,645 billionaires made the list this year, with an average net worth of $4.7 billion. That’s up from 1,426 billionaires last year with a net worth of $4.2 billion. Total net worth of this year’s list was $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion last year.

Forbes acknowledges in its report that not all billionaires cooperate in compiling the list, so their figures are estimates.

“To compile net worths, we value individuals’ assets–including stakes in public and private companies, real estate, yachts, art and cash–and take into account estimates of debt,” the magazine says. “We attempt to vet these numbers with all billionaires. Some cooperate; others don’t. We also consult an array of outside experts in various fields.”

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who recently stepped down as chairman of the tech giant, regained the top spot on the list.

Two other men with strong North Carolina connections also made the list.

David Murdock, the founder of the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, ranks No. 764 at $2.3 billion. He runs Dole Food.

Murdock’s fortune slipped slightly from $2.4 billion in 2013 when he ranked No. 613.

Clemmie Spangler, Jr. of Charlotte improved his fortune to $2.3 billion, tying Murdoch and several others for the No. 764 spot.

Spangler ranked No. 670 in 2013 with a fortune of $2.2 billion.

Gates, who led the list for 15 of the past 20 years, won the spot back from Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who had topped the list for the past four years. Gates’ net worth is estimated at $76 billion; Slim Helu follows at $72 billion.

Spanish clothing magnate Amancio Ortega, known for the Zara retail chain, maintained his No. 3 spot and came out ahead of famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett, who ranked fourth. Larry Ellison of Oracle came in fifth.

The magazine said that 1,080 of the billionaires were self-made, 207 inherited their wealth and 352 inherited a portion but are still growing it.

The largest net worth gainer on the list was Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who more than doubled his fortune to $28.5 billion as the value of his company’s stock soared. He ranks 21st on the list.

The social media giant helped bring a few notable newcomers to the list, including Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who recently sold their business to Facebook for $19 billion.

Forbes said 268 billionaires were new to the list, beating out a prior high of 226 newcomers in 2008. And a record number of women made the list this year, with 172 women joining, up 25 percent from last year.

Altogether 100 people dropped out of the rankings, while 16 passed away.

The U.S. was the country with the greatest number of billionaires at 492, followed by China with 152 and Russia with 111. Billionaires from four new countries joined, adding Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda to the geographic mix.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)