Bill Gates is once again the richest man in the world thanks to the recent success of the company he helped create. The 57-year-old Microsoft co-founder surpassed Mexican investor Carlos Slim yesterday to reclaim the title according to the Blooomberg Billionaires Index as stock value in Microsoft hit a five-year high twice this week.
Microsoft is riding a wave of success that has seen shares climb 28 percent so far this year. Gates owns a substantial amount of stock in Microsoft which as of yesterday, put his net worth at $72.7 billion - an increase of 15 percent year to date. Keep in mind that Gates has already donated some $28 billion of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charity that he runs with fellow billionaire Warren Buffett.
Interestingly enough, however, less than 25 percent of his total fortune is held in shares of Microsoft. As of late April, the NASQAD revealed Gates held more than 400 million shares in the company.
It's the first time Gates has been the wealthiest man on the planet since 2007 when he lost the title to Slim. The 73-year-old investor has watched share value in America Movil - the largest wireless provider in the Americas - slide 14 percent thus far this year. Mexico's Congress recently passed a law designed to regulate the telecom industry which could force Slim to either break up the company or charge lower rates for service.