Satellite-TV mogul Charlie Ergen’s $10 billion personal fortune placed him in the No. 1 orbit among Colorado’s billionaires for the sixth straight year.

Qwest Communications founder Philip Anshutz ranked second among Colorado’s eight billionaires, with a $7.9 billion fortune, according to Forbes magazine’s 2007 list of billionaires.

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone snagged the No. 3 spot in the state, with a fortune estimated at $2 billion.

They were followed, in order, by: medical device heiress Pat Stryker; mozzarella cheese magnate James Leprino; cable-TV heir Gary Magnus; Janus mutal fund founder Thomas Bailey; and TeleTech Holdings CEO Kenneth Tuchman.

The tally of billionaires from around the globe reached a high of 946. Their combined wealth grew 35 percent, to $3.5 trillion, according to the Forbes annual ranking.

The super rich cashed in on strong stock markets, real estate and commodity prices worldwide.

Leading the list are two men who manage to keep getting richer as they give more and more money away. Microsoft founder Bill Gates ranked No. 1 for the 13th straight year, beating out friend and fellow philanthropist Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Gates’s fortune rose $6 billion to $56 billion last year, while Buffett garnered in an additional $10 billion to boost his net worth to $52 billion.

Ergen’s $10 billion — up 49 percent from 2006 — placed him No. 62 worldwide. That’s up from No. 80 last year.

Ergen’s wealth has benefited from a surge in EchoStar’s stock over the past year. It jumped 42 percent. The company’s Dish Network is the second largest provider of satellite-TV service in the nation, after DirecTV.

Anschutz — whose far-flung holdings include sports teams and arenas, newspapers, movie theaters and Hollywood studios — saw his fortune climb 23 percent last year. Worldwide, he was No. 93, slipping from 89 a year ago.

Forbes says the research that when into compiling the rankings began in early 2006 and ended on Feb. 9, 2007.