Bill Gates has more money than almost anyone else in the world. That"s not news. What is news is the the fact that the founder and Chairman of Microsoft actually increased his net worth in 2012 and pushed his good friend Warren Buffet out of the second place spot on a constantly updated list of billionaires.
Bloomberg reports that Gates is now worth $63.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which monitors the wealth of the world"s 100 richest people on a daily basis. Gates gained $7 billion in 2012, which was due to the stock price of Microsoft going up 2.9 percent in the past year. However, his ownership of Microsoft stock represents less than 20 percent of Gates" net worth.
The only person who is richer than Gates is Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim. However, Gates is hardly spending his time relaxing on a beach. While he doesn"t work full time at Microsoft, he still comes to the company"s offices a few days out of the month.
Gates is now mostly concerned with his charity work and to head up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It"s that portion of his life that put him in fourth place on Forbes" recent list of the most powerful people in the world.
Source: Bloomberg | Image via Microsoft