Let's All Chip in for Bill Gates... Don't Blame Vista for This One!

Microsoft Chairman and co-founder Bill Gates is no longer on top of the world. For no less than 13 years, Gates has held the title of the world's richest man, according to Forbes Magazine. This is no longer the case. According to the latest statistics, Gates has not only been dethroned, but he has fallen all the way to number 3 among the world's top billionaires. His place was taken by none other than his close friend Warren Buffett, owner of Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett's fortune has grown by no less than $10 billion in a single year. By comparison, Gates has only managed to increase his wealth by $2 billion. And it is past the point of speculation as to the real reason why Gates is no longer the world wealthiest man. If your money was on Windows Vista, then you too have lost. Microsoft's latest Windows client, despite having failed to outperform Windows XP in terms of sales by two to one as was initially planned, still managed to gather an install base of over 100 million.

In fact, the reason why Gates is "poorer" than he should be is the small $44.6 billion unsolicited acquisition proposal Microsoft made to Yahoo at the start of January. The bid made Microsoft's shares drop 15%, and Gates, as the Redmond company's largest shareholder, felt the depreciation in value the hardest. As a result, Gates' estimated fortune is now $58 billion.

Buffett, worth $62 billion, has dethroned Gates after a reign of 13 consequent years. Just four billion separates the two friends, but that span was more than enough to accommodate Carlos Slim Hel￭. The Mexican telecom tycoon has effectively doubled his fortune in just two years, jumped by $11 billion since 2007 (more than Buffett) and is now worth over $60 billion.