Philanthropist, former CEO and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates is once again the richest person on the planet this year. It may take some time for the phrase “richest person on the planet” to sink in but lets ponder what that means.
Bill Gates increased his fortune by $3.2 billion last year off the back of Microsoft’s stellar year of performance on the market, to a total of $79.2 billion. His net worth last year was more than that of one of largest online advertising firm’s revenue for the year (hint: Google), and he has been actively giving away his shares for the past 15 years. He also unloaded 1/3 of his remaining stake over the 12 months through February 2015, which included a gift of shares worth $1.5 billion to the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation this past November, and yet he still maintains the title.
Mr. Gates has topped this list 16 times in last 21 years according to Forbes. Let it be said, this is not a boys club exclusively, there were 197 women who appeared on this list and that is an increase from the 172 last year. Among the top gainers were Christy Walton due to her stake in Wal-Mart and Liliane Bettencourt, who just happens to be the daughter of Eugene Schueller, founder of L’oreal.
Now back to our regularly scheduled paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle.
Further reading: Bill Gates, Billionaire, Forbes, money
