March 6th, 2008
Gates no longer the richest man thanks to Yahoo bid
The Forbes list of richest people is out and the big news is that Bill Gates is no longer the richest man. He’s not even No. 2 anymore because of Wall Street’s displeasure with Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo.
The richest folks are as follows (Techmeme, Forbes overview, Forbes list):
- Warren Buffett
- Carlos Slim
- Bill Gates
OK so you don’t have to cry for Gates since he’s still worth $58 billion compared to Buffett’s $62 billion. But what’s notable is the reason why Gates fell out of the top spot: The Yahoo bid. Gates was the richest guy on the planet until early February and Microsoft shares took a nose dive.
That big red thing that looks like a falling star represents what happened when Microsoft announced the Yahoo bid. It also represents Gates decline on the Forbes list. I wonder how far Gates will fall on the Forbes list if Microsoft actually lands Yahoo.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 03/06/08
