Bill Gates Named 'World's Richest' in 2015

Bill Gates, the American billionaire, was named the world's richest person for the second consecutive year by Forbes magazine in 2015. In a report published on Monday, February 1, Forbes stated that Gates topped the list of billionaires with a net worth of $79.2 billion. This estimate shows an increase of $3.2 billion compared to the previous year. According to Agence France-Presse, this increase occurred despite a $1.5 billion donation of Microsoft shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in November. As one of the co-founders of Microsoft, Gates has held the title of the world's richest man 16 times over the past 21 years. The second richest person is Carlos Slim, the Mexican businessman with a net worth of $77.1 billion. Slim had held the title of the world's richest man in 2013. Following him is Warren Buffett, the American businessman and investor, who moved up one spot with a net worth of $72.2 billion, placing him third. In this context, Agence France-Presse reported that Buffett, known as the 'Oracle of Omaha,' is one of the biggest winners on this year's Forbes list, having benefited $14.5 billion from the increase in shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway. Forbes announced that this year’s list includes 1,826 billionaires, up from 1,645 last year. This year marks the 29th annual list of the world's wealthiest individuals published by Forbes. The fourth position on the list is held by Amancio Ortega, the Spanish businessman and founder of the fashion group Inditex, which includes Zara clothing stores, with an estimated wealth of $64.5 billion. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has climbed five spots to reach the sixteenth position on this list, marking his first time in the top 20 wealthiest people in the world. Jack Ma, the owner of the online marketplace Alibaba, along with two other Chinese billionaires, made it to the top 50 wealthiest individuals in the world. The increase in the dollar against the euro and the declining oil prices in global markets have significantly impacted this year's Forbes billionaire rankings.