14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft Chairman and Co-Founder Bill Gates is in danger of losing his throne. Carlos Slim Hel￭ may wipe Bill Gates' smile off his face and dethrone him. Bill Gates has reigned supreme over the world's billionaires for the past thirteen years, but this pseudo status-quo is not menaced from south of the border.
At the beginning of 2007, Bill Gates was atop a platoon of 946 international billionaires with close friend Warren Buffet CEO of Berkshire Hathaway as runner up. But the situation has changed dramatically in March 2007.
This because as of last month, Buffet is no longer the world's second wealthiest man. In this manner, Buffet was displaced from a position that he has occupied for the past seven years. Carlos Slim Hel￭ is now officially the world's n￭mero dos billionaire with only Bill Gates in the way.
However, Hel￭'s fortune has been increasing at a hallucinating pace. In just the past two months Hel￭ has counted an additional $4 billion, a jump that has put him ahead of Buffet. Hel￭'s fortune is currently estimated at $53.1 billion while Buffet's at only $52.4 billion.
Bill Gates is worth $56.0 billion, but he is no match for Hel￭, if the Mexican billionaire's fortune momentum will survive. At the basis of Carlos Slim Hel￭'s wealth is the Carso Global Telecom SA, controlling Mexico's Telmex telephone utility.
Hel￭ is 67 years old, and a widower father of six. According to the latest estimates Hel￭'s net worth represents approximately 7% of the total annual economic output of Mexico.
