Bill Gates still world’s richest man, Forbes says

By: 10 years ago

In this May 5, 2014, file photo, Microsoft co-founder and Berkshire Hathaway board member Bill Gates speaks during an interview with Liz Claman on the Fox Business Network in Omaha, Nebraska. Forbes on Monday, March 2, 2015, said that Gates’s net worth rose to $79.2 billion in 2015 from $76 billion last year. That put him at the top of the magazine’s list of the world’s billionaires for the second consecutive year. AP PHOTO/NATI HARNIK

NEW YORK–Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates kept his spot as the world’s richest man for the second consecutive year, Forbes magazine said Monday. He has topped the list for 16 of the last 21 years.

The Microsoft co-founder got even richer this year as his fortune increased $3.2 billion since last year to $79.2 billion, the business magazine said, despite a $1.5 billion gift of Microsoft shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November.

Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim held onto second place thanks to his $77.1 billion, ahead of American investor Warren Buffett, with $72.7 billion.

The so-called Oracle of Omaha was the biggest gainer of the Forbes list this year, up $14.5 billion from last year riding on the rising share price of his Berkshire Hathaway.

In fourth was Amancio Ortega, founder of the Inditex fashion group that includes Zara clothing retail shops. He counts a fortune of $64.5 billion.

Rounding out the top five was Larry Ellison, founder of technology company Oracle Corp., with $54.3 billion.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg jumped five spots to land in No. 16, the first time he made it within the exclusive circle of the world’s 20 richest people.

Jack Ma, whose Alibaba online marketplace made the biggest global IPO ever last year, was ranked among the world’s 50 richest people, along with two other Chinese nationals.

Record-breaking year

The number of billionaires is growing steadily, breaking an all-time record this year, with 1,826–up from 1,645 last year. Added together, they were worth a combined $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion last year.

The rise of the dollar against the euro, along with plunging oil prices, had a significant impact on this year’s list.

Most of those on the list were men. But there were 197 women, up from 172 a year ago. The highest-ranking woman was Christy Walton, the widow of John Walton, a son of the founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. She has a net worth of $41.7 billion, according to Forbes.

The world’s youngest billionaire was 24-year-old Evan Spiegel, the CEO and co-founder of mobile messaging company Snapchat, with a net worth of $1.5 billion. Snapchat’s other co-founder, 25-year-old Bobby Murphy, had the same net worth as Spiegel. Other tech billionaire newcomers were two co-founders of taxi-ordering app Uber and one of its executives. Three co-founders of Airbnb, the vacation-home rental website, also made the list.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan joined the list for the first time this year, thanks to his ownership in basketball team Charlotte Hornets and payouts form his Nike brand. Jordan had a net worth of $1 billion, the magazine said.

This is the 29th year that Forbes has released its billionaires’ list. The magazine said it calculated each person’s wealth based on stock prices and exchange rates on Feb. 13, 2015.