Bill Gates Becomes Third Richest Man In The World: The First Time In 7 Years

18/07/2019

Bill Gates who co-founded Microsoft, is also a well-known billionaire and philanthropist.

After becoming a centibillionaire for the first time in 1999, to then lost that title for only regaining it for the second time in 2019, Gates has never ranked lower than the second richest man in the world in the seven-year history of Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

His reign ended on Thursday, when Gates dropped to number three, falling behind Bernard Arnault, the French business magnate that is the founder and CEO of the multinational luxury goods Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH).

LVMH performance in the market propelled Arnault’s net worth to $107.6 billion, ahead of Gates by more than $200 million.

Arnault has added $39 billion to his fortune in 2019 alone, the biggest individual gain by far among the 500 people in Bloomberg’s ranking.

Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and Bill Gates
Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and Bill Gates, the world's only three centibillionaires in the history of Bloomberg's 7-year-old list

Sitting at the peak, is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

With $124 billion, Bezos wealth surpassed $100 billion for the first time in 2017. Even after his 'costly' divorce in April 2019, Bezos who was left with $35 billion short, still remain the richest person on Earth.

The three centibillionaires: Bezos, Arnault and Gates, have wealth collectively exceeds the individual market values of almost every company in the S&P 500 Index, including Walmart Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Walt Disney Co..

Bill Gates have retired his position as CEO and Chairman of Microsoft to focus on his philanthropic activities.

Until this date, Gates has donated more than $35 billion to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation he founded with his wife, is reported to be the largest private foundation in the world.

According to Bloomberg, if not for his philanthropic giving, Gates would still be the world’s richest person.

Arnault himself is also among the titans who pledged their money for good causes. One of which, was when Arnault and his family pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in April for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral after fire ravaged the landmark church.

Arnault has built LVMH into a global luxury powerhouse that controls brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy. It's also the home of Champagne brand Dom Pérignon and beauty retailer Sephora.

Closing in at number four, is the famous investor Warren Buffett. In Bloomberg's list, he is $19 billion short from becoming a centibillionaire, with a net worth of $81 billion.