Bill Gates No Longer Planet's 2nd Richest

Bernard Arnault jumps over him
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 17, 2019 9:56 AM CDT
Bill Gates No Longer Planet's 2nd Richest
Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and director at Berkshire Hathaway, is seen during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb., Sunday, May 5, 2019.   (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

In the seven years that Bloomberg has been putting out its Billionaires Index, Bill Gates has always ranked in the top 2. No more. On Tuesday, Bernard Arnault leaped over him and into the No. 2 spot, with a net worth of $107.6 billion, a slim $200 million over Gates. It has been a rapid rise for Arnault, who is CEO of luxury-goods maker LVMH. CNN details some of the mega-brands under it: Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Dom Pérignon, and Sephora.

The 70-year-old's fortune has jumped $39 billion this year, the largest increase of any of the 500 people Bloomberg ranks. Jeff Bezos hangs on to the top spot with roughly $125 billion to his name. Forbes' real-time billionaires list shows the same top 3. That Gates is now in third is his own doing: He'd be No. 1 if he hadn't donated $35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, notes Bloomberg. (More billionaire stories.)

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