Warren Buffett passes Gates as richest person, as his wealth grew to $62 billion

Buffett passes Gates as richest person

www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-06 15:07:11

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has agreed to pay 4.5 billion U.S. dollars to buy the majority of an industrial conglomerate from Chicago's Pritzker family.

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhuanet) --

Warren Buffett, one of the most famous U.S. investors who heads Bershire Hathaway Inc, topped Forbes magazine's latest list of the world's richest man Thursday.

Buffett's wealth grew 10 billion U.S. dollars to about 62 billion dollars in the 12 months through Feb. 11, mostly from a gain in his company's shares, Forbes said in a statement.

"Even though he is giving away a piece of his fortune each year, the stock of Berkshire Hathaway, the source of Warren Buffet's wealth, has been rising very rapidly," Chief Executive of Forbes Magazines Steve Forbes said.

Buffett began buying shares in textile firm Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 and purchased a controlling stake in 1965. He began buying insurance companies and astutely investing those companies' cash reserves.

    Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim came in second with an estimated worth of 60 billion dollars, pushing Gates to third place after 13 years of holding the No. 1 spot.
    Gates is now worth 58 billion dollars and is ranked third in the world. He is up 2 billion dollars from a year ago.
    Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, one of four Indians on the list, placed fourth, followed by Indian brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani, in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a 23-year-old worth 1.5 billion, is the world's youngest billionaire, according to Forbes.

The overall list grew by 179 from last year to a record number of 1,125 billionaires that Forbes could identify across 54 countries.

(Agencies)
Editor: Feng Tao

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