***OT***I found a stockpicker whose track record is better than Yogi's. The guy's name is Bill Gates.
For Personal Use Only
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biz.yahoo.com
Sunday June 20, 6:30 pm Eastern Time
Bill Gates is world's richest - worth $90 billion
By Steve James
NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - So what else is new? Bill Gates is still the richest man in
the world.
The chairman of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) has seen his personal worth rise to a cool $90 billion from $51
billion last year and at one point in April, it actually broke through the $100 billion barrier as the value of his stock holdings
rose.
Gates, who founded the personal computer giant in 1975, is so rich that his fortune is nearly three times the $36 billion of his
nearest challenger, investor Warren Buffett, according to the latest edition of the business magazine Forbes. Gates has been the
world's richest person now since 1995.
Paul Allen, who founded Microsoft with Gates but is no longer with the company, is third on the list, with $30 billion, and
Microsoft President Steven Ballmer is fourth with a worth of $19.5 billion.
In a sign of the economic boom that is driving U.S. stock markets, the seven richest people in the world are Americans.
The Top Ten ''Working Rich'' is rounded out by Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Alsaud, who is worth $15 billion,
Germany's retailing leaders Theo and Karl Albrecht and family ($13.6 billion) and Hong Kong real estate magnate Li Ka-shing
($12.7 billion).
The world's wealthiest woman is France's Liliane Bettencourt, whose net worth is $13.9 billion, Forbes said. However,
Bettencourt is not included in the ''Working Rich'' list but rather as a ''Coupon Clipper'' because she is living off inherited
wealth and not actively working.
Another woman often falsely referred to as the world's richest, is Britain's Queen Elizabeth. But Forbes said her actual personal
wealth is a mere $450 million -- since the Royal Collection, including the crown jewels, is worth $16 billion but the queen only
holds it in trust for the nation.
At a press conference to announce the list of the world's richest people, editors of Forbes and its international edition Forbes
Global, said the list was compiled from information available on April 30 this year. Forbes latest edition on newsstands Monday
lists 210 billionaires and Forbes Global tallied an additional 250 for a total of 460.
''Each day, Gates' and Buffett's net worth changes through stock values, so this is a snapshot of one day,'' Forbes associate
editor Kerry Dolan told reporters.
She said the magazine has been compiling its list since 1987 and in that time, economic changes had led to a geographic shift of
wealth.
''In 1990, there were lots of Japanese on the richest list and only two Americans. Now seven of the top 10 are Americans,''
she said. According to Forbes, only seven Japanese are among the 86 people worth more than $4 billion.
''The rich really are getting richer,'' Dolan said. ''People don't realize what a billion dollars is. The fact that Bill Gates has a
billion dollars now is hard to believe, but it would have been even harder to believe 10 years ago.''
Justin Doebele, a writer who worked on the Forbes list, said the magazine had identified 250 billionaires outside the United
States, compared to 96 just 10 years ago.
''There are more billionaires out there, but it's paper wealth,'' Dolan said. ''Not many have a billion in cash, most is tied up in
stock.''
Another writer, Neil Weinberg, said there was a mixed reaction from people included or excluded from the list.
"Some love it, some hate it and some threaten us with legal options. One American was thrilled to get on the list until a person
told him that now his kids might get kidnapped.
''Some actually court us to get on the list,'' he said.
Dolan said there were no known criminals on the list, although in the past the late Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar had
been included.
Forbes stressed the growth of wealth worldwide. The total wealth of the Top 200 billionaires topped $1 trillion this year --
more than double the $463 billion of 1989.
Also, Gates now is worth as much as the entire Top nine on the Forbes list 10 years ago.
Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited.
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