American Investor Warren Buffett is now the richest man in the world, snagging the title from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, according to Forbes Magazine.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, with an estimated fortune of $58 billion, is no longer ranked as the world's richest man.
(Marcus R. Donner/Associated Press) The magazine announced its annual list of the world's billionaires on Wednesday, and for the first time in 13 years, Gates wasn't at the top.
His estimated fortune of $58 billion US, up $2 billion from last year, was eclipsed by his friend Buffett's staggering net worth of $62 billion.
Gates, 52, was also surpassed by Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and his family, who are worth $60 billion, compared with $49 billion in 2007.
Buffett, who is heavily invested in insurance firms, has promised to give away his fortune to charity when he dies. He has pledged to direct many of his Berkshire shares to the charitable foundation run by Gates and his wife, Melinda.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with $38.7 billion in assets, funds research for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis vaccines and directs money toward projects helping the world's poor.
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(Marcus R. Donner/Associated Press)
His estimated fortune of $58 billion US, up $2 billion from last year, was eclipsed by his friend Buffett's staggering net worth of $62 billion.
Gates, 52, was also surpassed by Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and his family, who are worth $60 billion, compared with $49 billion in 2007.
Buffett, who is heavily invested in insurance firms, has promised to give away his fortune to charity when he dies. He has pledged to direct many of his Berkshire shares to the charitable foundation run by Gates and his wife, Melinda.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with $38.7 billion in assets, funds research for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis vaccines and directs money toward projects helping the world's poor.
Full story
If you had this kind of money what would you do to benefit mankind?
More...