http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/GatesDethronedBuffettIsRich est.aspx?GT1=33009
Gates dethroned; Buffett is richest After 13 years as the wealthiest person in the world, Microsoft's co- founder drops to third place, behind the Oracle of Omaha and Mexico's Carlos Slim Helú. Buffett and Gates are the only Americans in the top 10. Latest Market Update March 05, 2008 -- 16:25 ET [BRIEFING.COM] The stock market saw its share of ups and downs today. The three major indices opened in positive territory after a batch of favorable earnings reports and continued news that a bailout for a beleaguered bond insurer was imminent.... More advertisement Article Tools E-mail to a friendTools IndexPrint-friendly versionSite MapArticle IndexDiscuss in a Message BoardDigg This By Forbes.com Warren Buffett is the richest person on the planet. Riding the surging price of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, news, msgs) stock, the man called America's most beloved investor has seen his fortune swell to an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago. That massive pile of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft (MSFT, news, msgs) co-founder Bill Gates, who had been the richest person in the world for the past 13 years. No. 3: Bill Gates Gates is now worth $58 billion and is ranked third in the world. He is up $2 billion from a year ago but would have been perhaps as rich -- or richer -- than Buffett had Microsoft not made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo (YHOO, news, msgs) at the beginning of February. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.) Microsoft shares fell 15% between Jan. 31, the day before the company announced its bid for the search-engine giant, and Feb. 11, the day we locked in stock prices for the 2008 World's Billionaires list. More than half of Gates' fortune is held outside Microsoft shares. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helú is the world's second- richest person, with an estimated net worth of $60 billion. His fortune has risen $11 billion since last March. No. 2: Carlos Slim Helú No. 4: Lakshmi Mittal No. 5: Mukesh Ambani Buffett, whose fortune is estimated based on his stake in Berkshire Hathaway and assets he holds outside the company, declined to comment on his net worth. The race for the title of world's richest person has been extremely competitive in recent months. Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway soared 25% between mid-July and the day we priced our list. The stock hit an all-time high of more than $150,000 a share in December. At that time Buffett was worth roughly $65 billion. Talk back: Is Buffett your investing role model? Berkshire Hathaway shares closed at $137,100 per share Tuesday, down 2% since an announcement Friday that the company's net earnings had fallen 18% in the fourth quarter of last year.
