Bekker's Blog by Scott Bekker, Editor in Chief

Blog archive

Gates Still on Top of Forbes' Richest Americans List

The Forbes 400 list of the Richest People in America came out Wednesday and it lists Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on top once again, with $54 billion. As Forbes puts it, "The software king is not the world's richest man, but that's because he is the most generous person on the planet: To date he has cut checks totaling $28 billion."

The Gates fortune is up $4 billion from a year ago, but down $3 billion from 2008 and down $5 billion from 2007, according to Forbes. While Gates' money seems to be working its way back toward those peaks, it remains above the relative trough it occupied for most of the 2000s, when it dipped as low -- if that's really the right word -- as $43 billion, according to Forbes' figures.

Others who owe their fortunes to Microsoft in the Forbes 400 include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, ranked No. 16 with $13.1 billion, and cofounder Paul Allen, No. 17 with $12.7 billion. The closest technologist in net worth to Gates is Oracle founder Larry Ellison, ranked No. 3 at $27 billion. Gates' bridge and philanthropy buddy, Warren Buffett, provides a welcome buffer on the Forbes list between the two technology billionaires, who frequently stand on opposite sides of technology fights.

Posted by Scott Bekker on September 23, 2010


Featured

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.

  • Report: Security Initiatives Can't Keep Pace with Cloud, AI Boom

    The increasingly fast adoption of hybrid, multicloud, and AI systems is easily outgrowing existing security measures, according to a recent global survey by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and exposure management firm Tenable.

  • World Map Image

    Microsoft Taps Nebius in $17B AI Infrastructure Deal To Alleviate Cloud Strain

    Microsoft has signed a five-year, $17.4 billion agreement with Amsterdam-based Nebius Group to expand its AI computing capabilities through third-party GPU infrastructure.

  • Microsoft Brings Copilot AI Into Viva Engage

    Microsoft 365 Copilot in Viva Engage is now generally available, extending Copilot's AI-powered assistant capabilities deeper into the Viva platform.

Most   Popular