Bill Gates

Ng Zhi Tao 4P2

March 2009

B I L L G AT E S R I C H E S T M A N N O W Believe it or not, the economic recession has not only affected our lives but also billionaires’. The number of billionaire has decreased from 1,125 to 793 this year. That is a 30% drop from last year. 355 lost huge amounts of money,18 died and 38 newbies made into the list. The average net worth of billionaires dropped 23% to US$3 billion. This has never been seen since 2003. Why? This is because of the outcome of this economic recession. Previously world’s richest mexican man, Carlos Slim Helu, who’s certainly not slim, has dropped to No. 3. His main sources of income are Telmex and America Movil. Both are mexican companies, one is Mexico’s Telecommunications and the other is Mexico’s largest mobile network operator, respectively. He lost US$25 billion due to the turn out of events. Ouch!

Warren Buffet now rises to No. 2, although he has lost his own share of fortune. He, too, lost US$ 25 billion. He owns Berkshire Hathaway which deals with insurance and investments.

And now, Bill Gates. Whose real name in fact is, William Henry Gates III. No one will ever be surprised that Gates is the richest man again. This genius with an IQ of 170, lost US$18 billion during a period of 12 months. Still, he manages to clinch World No. 1 as the richest man on Earth. How does this man still get so rich even when he’s not working? Well, he still has shares in Microsoft and more than half of his fortune is invested outside Microsoft, thus, making his money work for him. Now that’s what i call rich.