Because of his generosity, Bill Gates is not the richest.
Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim are sure to remain the top three names in the 2011 ranking of the world's richest people that Forbes magazine is expected to announce on March 9 (US time).
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Mr. Bill Gates - Photo: Reuters |
Reuters news agency quoted David Lincoln, Director of the Global Wealth Assessment Research Company Wealth-X, as saying that there would be no dispute about the ranking position, because if he had not spent 28 billion USD on charity, Mr. Gates' assets could have reached 88 billion USD.
According to Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Gates currently has about 49 billion USD, behind the person with assets worth 60 billion USD, Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim.
American investor Warren Buffett – also a philanthropist – is worth about $47 billion. Ranked by Forbes as the richest person since 1995, Gates, whose fortune was estimated at $53 billion last year, was second on Forbes’ 2010 list behind the richest man, Slim, who is worth about $53.5 billion.
For a long time, Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffett have worked together to call on other billionaires to publicly pledge to donate at least 50% of their assets during their lifetime or upon their death as part of a campaign called The Giving Pledge, which has so far attracted 59 billionaires.
According to Thanh Nien
