Gates’ fortune was up $7bn from last year, having held the crown as the richest American for almost 20 years.
Fellow Americans, Oracle’s chief executive Larry Ellison ($41bn) and the Koch brothers, David and Charles (both $31bn), rounded off the top five.
Hedge fund guru George Soros featured down at 15th on the list with a net worth of $19bn.
Biggest loser
Two of the most controversial figures of the past year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch shared 36th place, both registering an estimated net worth of $9.4bn.
The former was the ‘biggest dollar loser’ on the list having fallen from 14th place. Facebook’s disappointing IPO in May cost him a staggering $8.1bn.
Murdoch’s fortune rose from $8.3bn last year, and he will be satisfied today after UK regulator Ofcom decided that BSkyB is “fit and proper” to hold a broadcasting licence.
