Bill Gates richest man again as Microsoft hits 5-year high

Sao Paulo/New York:Bill Gates is once again the world’s richest person.

add_main_imageThe 57-year-old co-founder of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. recaptured the title from Mexican investor Carlos Slim on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the software maker hit a five-year high. It is the first time Gates has held the mantle since 2007. His fortune is valued at $72.7 billion, up 16% year-to-date.

Slim’s America Movil SAB, the largest mobile-phone operator in the Americas, has dropped 14% this year after Mexico’s Congress passed a Bill that could quash the billionaire’s market dominance. That’s helped erase more than $3 billion from the 73- year-old tycoon’s net worth.NextMAds

“When they’re talking about reform in a country that’s generally poor, and the guy shows up No. 1 on the list—not a good thing,” said Greg Lesko, managing director at New York- based Deltec Asset Management Llc, which oversees $750 million and has an underweight position in Slim’s flagship company. “He’s had a pretty good monopoly situation in Mexico, and the Mexican cellphone user has been paying more than he should. We applaud it for the country.”

Earlier this month, a group of kazoo-playing protesters confronted Slim when he appeared at an event at the New York Public Library, denouncing him for overcharging consumers to enrich himself. He denies the accusation.

Microsoft rally

The Bill passed by in Mexico last month, which is backed by President Enrique Pena Nieto and is now before state legislatures, would allow regulators to break up phone companies with more than 50% of the market or force them to share their networks. America Movil has 70% of Mexico’s mobile-phone subscribers and 80% of the country’s landlines.

Microsoft shares have surged 28% this year, buoyed by cost controls and sales of business and server software amid weak demand for personal computers running the new Windows 8 operating system. Gates’s fortune has also benefited from a rally in stock holdings that include the Canadian National Railway Co. and waste-collection company Republic Services Inc.

Most of Gates’s fortune is held in Cascade Investment Llc, a holding entity through which he owns stakes in more than a dozen publicly traded companies and several closely held operations, including Four Seasons hotels and Corbis Corp. Less than a quarter of Gates’s fortune is held in Microsoft. He’s donated $28 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.sixthMAds

Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Gates, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment. Arturo Elias, Slim’s spokesman, didn’t return phone and e-mail messages.

Buffett, Ortega

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman Warren Buffett is the world’s third-richest person with $59.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg ranking. He is $3.7 billion ahead of Spaniard Amancio Ortega, Europe’s wealthiest person.

Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have seen their fortunes rise more than 22% year-to-date as shares of world’s most popular search provider have surged. They rank No. 18 and No. 19 respectively.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index takes measure of the world’s wealthiest people based on market and economic changes and Bloomberg News reporting. Each net worth figure is updated every business day at 5.30pm in New York and listed in US dollars. BLOOMBERG

Pamela Roux in New York and Robert LaFranco in London contributed to this story.