Dominicana_1965
6th March 2008, 07:02
US financier and philanthropist Warren Buffett has overtaken Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the world's richest person, Forbes magazine says.
Buffett's wealth rose from $52bn to $62bn, while Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican telecoms tycoon, took second place with $60bn, up from $49bn last year.
Gates, who had spent 13 years at the top of the list, was in third place with $58bn, the magazine said.
The US remains the country with the largest number of billionaires, with 469.
Russia overtook Germany to take second place with 87.
Buffett, who made much of his money investing in and buying insurance companies, saw his wealth rise mainly because of the increasing value of stock in his company, Berkshire Hathaway.
He announced in 2006 that he was giving most of his money to Bill Gates's charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, after he dies.
Gates's Microsoft was recently fined a record $1.4bn by the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour.
The commission said the US software company had defied its 2004 order to provide information so that rival programmes worked better with Microsoft products and had instead charged high royalties for the details.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7F980CA9-E1B7-4921-BAFD-B4E1252C0DA4.htm
Buffett's wealth rose from $52bn to $62bn, while Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican telecoms tycoon, took second place with $60bn, up from $49bn last year.
Gates, who had spent 13 years at the top of the list, was in third place with $58bn, the magazine said.
The US remains the country with the largest number of billionaires, with 469.
Russia overtook Germany to take second place with 87.
Buffett, who made much of his money investing in and buying insurance companies, saw his wealth rise mainly because of the increasing value of stock in his company, Berkshire Hathaway.
He announced in 2006 that he was giving most of his money to Bill Gates's charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, after he dies.
Gates's Microsoft was recently fined a record $1.4bn by the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour.
The commission said the US software company had defied its 2004 order to provide information so that rival programmes worked better with Microsoft products and had instead charged high royalties for the details.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7F980CA9-E1B7-4921-BAFD-B4E1252C0DA4.htm