Bill Gates Drops Out Of Top 10 Richest List

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has dropped out of the world's top 10 richest people following a major reassessment of his charitable contributions, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Once ranked fifth, Gates now holds twelfth rank after his net worth declined by nearly 30% from approximately $175 billion to $124 billion within seven days.

The recalculation primarily stems from his extensive philanthropic donations, including a pledge to donate the majority of his wealth within two decades. In a blog post published last month, Gates revealed his estimated net worth to be $108 billion, most of which he intends to give away through his donation trust. By the end of December 2024, Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, had donated a total of $60 billion to the Gates Foundation. Currently, Gates retains about 1% ownership in Microsoft and stock valued at nearly $60 billion.

Replacing him in the top ten is his former assistant and ex-Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, whose net worth now stands at $172 billion. At the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index remains Tesla CEO Elon Musk with a fortune of $361 billion, followed by Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.