He's Back: Gates World's Richest Person Once Again

It's been a while—six years, to be precise—since Bill Gates was dubbed the richest person in the world by Bloomberg. But thanks to an ascendant Microsoft and a dent in Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's fortune—now $72.1 billion—Gates is again at the top with $72.7 billion, Bloomberg reports. Slim lost some $3 billion following Mexico's congressional passage of a bill that would tighten the reins on his giant mobile-phone company, America Movil, sending its stock down 14%.

Meanwhile, Microsoft shares have jumped 28% this year, Bloomberg notes, and Gates' stock holdings have performed well. Among the rest of the richest: Warren Buffett is at No. 3, boasting $59.7 billion. Europe's richest person is Amancio Ortega of Spain, whose $56 billion put him in fourth place worldwide. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad rounds out the top five with $55.6 billion. Here's the full list. (More Bill Gates stories.)