Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Poor Bill Gates

Agence France-Presse reported yesterday that Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has lost his claim as the world's richest person, ceding the title to Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu, according to Fortune magazine.

By most calculations, Gates has been considered for at least the past decade to be the wealthiest person alive, but strong performance by Slim's holdings on the Mexican stock exchange in recent months had pushed Gates into second place.

"By our calculations, the 67-year-old Slim has amassed a 59 billion dollar fortune, based on the value of his public holdings at the end of July," Fortune magazine reported in its latest edition, due to hit newsstands this week.

"This number puts him just ahead of perennial number one, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is estimated to be at least 58 billion dollars.

The poor man. Maybe Bill and Melinda Gates should stop giving away their money and start saving for a while. It just might get them out of their financial hole.

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