1.Bill Gates

Bill Gates

Net Worth:

$66 B As of September 2012

At a Glance

• Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Age: 56
• Source of Wealth: Microsoft, Self-made
• Residence: Medina, WA
• Country of Citizenship: United States
• Education: Drop Out, Harvard University
• Marital Status: Married
• Children: 3

Forbes Lists

#1 Forbes 400

#2 Forbes Billionaires 

#1 in United States

#5 Powerful People

 

Profile:

 

Bill Gates, the planet's most generous person --he's given away $28 billion so far -- has a new obsession: building a better toilet for those without water or sewage systems. Every year 1.5 million children die from food and water tainted with fecal matter, more than the annual deaths from AIDS and malaria combined. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is also spearheading a malaria vaccine that is showing promise in clinical trials. The vaccine non-profit he founded, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), has raised $4.3 billion in pledges from various countries to provide life-saving vaccines against a range of deadly infections that harm millions of children in developing countries, including those that cause meningitis, pneumonia, and severe diarrhea. Since June 2011, 13 countries have introduced vaccines against pneumococcal disease and rotavirus, two of the world's biggest killers. In April his wife Melinda went public with a big push to spread access to contraceptives worldwide, and pledged a total $1.1 billion to the cause. Gates' net worth climbed $7 billion since last August on the strength of Microsoft shares, which rose 20%, and on gains from investments in private equity, bonds, and stocks such as hygiene tech firm Ecolab and Mexican TV broadcaster Televisa. He continues to sell shares of Microsoft --he shed 80 million in the past year, about 15% of his stake -- so that now just one-fifth of his net worth stems from the software company he co-founded 37 years ago. Gates and his good friend Warren Buffett continue to recruit new members to their Giving Pledge, in which the very wealthy promise to give away at least half of their net worth during their lifetime or after they die.