Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, on Monday topped Forbes magazine’s list of richest people in the world, a report said.
Forbes said in the report that Gates, who had been in the 16th position in the past 21 years, had an estimated fortune of $79.2bn.
It added, “That is $3.2bn more than last year’s.”
It noted that his net worth grew in spite of a gift in November of $1.5bn of shares in Microsoft to his charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Telecommunications magnate, Carlos Slim of Mexico, is in the second spot again, while star US investor, Warren Buffett, is third,” it added.
The magazine, which compiled the list for 29 years, said it found a record 1,826 billionaires in the world in 2014 and
290 were newcomers, including 71 from China.
The average net worth of people on the list is $3.86bn, which the magazine says is down $60m from the 2014 average.
Meanwhile, the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, retained his position as Africa’s richest man on the 2015 Forbes billionaires’ list, despite the loss of $10.3bn of his fortune
The list also include four other Nigerians, Chief Mike Adenuga, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, Mr. Femi Otedola and Mr. Abdulsamad Rabiu.
Otedola returned to Forbes’ list of billionaires for the first time since 2009 following a sharp rise in the share price of his petroleum marketing company Forte Oil Plc, despite the drop in oil prices in 2014.
He was briefly featured on the list in 2009 but dropped out of the rankings shortly afterwards when the shares of his African Petroleum Plc (now Forte Oil) plunged by more than 80 per cent.
Dangote, who currently ranks 67th from 23rd in 2014, saw his fortune dropped to $14.7bn from $25bn last year, propelled downward by a weaker naira and shrinking demand for cement, his largest asset, according to Forbes.
Despite dropping by 44 places in the world ranking, Dangote still retains the title of Africa’s richest man.
Adenuga ranked 393, with a net worth of $4.2bn, down from 325 in 2014 when his net worth was calculated at $4.6bn.
Alakija dropped to the 949th position with a net worth of $2bn, from 687th on the billionaires’ list last year when she was worth $2.5bn.
Otedola and Rabiu were ranked 1,741 and 1,372, with net worth of $1bn each. While Otedola moved up, Rabiu lost $200m in the space of 12 months, according to Forbes.
According to Forbes, 138 people from the 2014 list dropped out of the ranking altogether, including fashion designer, Michael Kors; Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko; Zulily’s Mark Vadon; and many Russians.
The rank of the world’s wealthiest expanded to a record 1,826 this year, with an aggregate net worth of $7.05tn, up from $6.4tn a year ago. The total includes 290 newcomers, 71 of who hail from China.
A record 46 among the billionaires are under age 40. One earthward note: The average net worth of list members came in at $3.86bn, down $60m from 2014. Agency report.
