Microsoft's latest operating system Windows Vista did nothing to help keep Bill Gates on top of the world. Microsoft Co-Founder and Chairman Bill Gates is no longer the world's wealthiest man. Gates was dethroned by the Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Hel￭, according to NZHerald. William Gates III ranked as the world's top billionaire for no less than 13 years in a row.

However, it seems that the same year that Microsoft launched a new version of its main cash cows Windows Vista and the Office 2007 System is a time of ill fortune for Bill Gates. Nothing stood in the way of the meteoric rise of Carlos Slim Hel￭. Not even Warren Buffett, and now not even Bill Gates.

In just the last 14 months, Hel￭'s already massive fortune increased by a staggering $23 billion. The rise was sufficient to make Hel￭ the world's richest man, and to dethrone Bill Gates from a position he occupied for over a decade. Microsoft's worldwide presence was simply insufficient to make up for the Mexican stock market jumping no less than 49%. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2007 in Los Angeles in mid May, Bill Gates applauded approximately 40 million sold Windows Vista licenses.

But while Gates declared himself surprised with the success of the latest Windows platform, Vista is nothing compared to Hel￭'s telecom business. In this context, the wealth of the world's top billionaire represents no less than 7% of the whole annual output of Mexico's economy. Hel￭'s current wealth is estimated at in excess of $67.8 billion. The fortune increase for Hel￭ was driven by a jump of over 27% in the shares of America Movil. This means that Bill gates is now over $8.5 billion poorer than Hel￭ with a wealth estimated at just over $59 billion.