Microsoft founder Bill Gates is again the richest person in the world. He beats Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index that was published Monday.
The net assets of Bill Gates are estimated by the financial press agency Bloomberg at 110 billion dollars, around 99.5 billion euros. That makes it slightly richer than the number two Jeff Bezos, which remains stuck at 109 billion dollars (98.5 billion euros).
Gates was the richest person in the world for a long time, but was thrown off the throne by Bezos two years ago.
Bill Gates has returned to the top position thanks to an increase in the value of its Microsoft shares. The software company received a mega order in October from the US Department of Defense. Jeff Bezos was recently divorced and had to transfer part of his shares to his ex-wife.
Bernard Arnault, founder and chairman of the board of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, is currently number three. He has a capital of 103 billion dollars (93.1 billion euros).
The only Dutchman in the Top 100 is Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken at number 80 with a capacity of 15.8 billion dollars (13.4 billion euros).
In the Top 500 there is a second Dutch person. Frits Goldschmeding, founder of Randstad, is at 446 with a capital of 4.61 billion dollars (4.17 billion euros).
The Bloomberg Billionares Index is a list of the richest people in the world that is updated daily after the close of the New York Stock Exchange.