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Microsoft founder Bill Gates kept his status on Monday atop the annual Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans which showed US billionaires with a record level of wealth.
Gates’ $ 72 billion fortune represented a $ 6 billion bump from last year’s total. Second on the list was super-investor Warren Buffet, 83, who added $ 12.5 billion to his fortune for a net worth of $ 58.5 billion. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who kept his third place with his $ 41 billion dollar nest-egg.
Right-wing industrialists Charles and David Koch filled spots four and five, with members of the Wal-Mart owning Walton clan occupying the next four spots. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg claimed tenth position with his $ 31 billion fortune.
The people on the annual list posted a combined net worth of $ 2 trillion up from $ 1.7 trillion a year ago to mark their highest combined value ever, according to Forbes.
The average net worth of people on the list was $ 5 billion, up $ 800 million from a year ago, and the minimum net worth needed to make the list was $ 1.3 billion, leaving 61 billionaires who did not make the cut.
One of the most notable successes on the list belonged to Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who owns 17 per cent of the social networking giant. Thanks to the company’s hot stock price in recent month’s Zuckerberg’s fortune doubled over the past year to $ 19 billion.
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