Warren Buffett ‘becomes world’s richest’

US investment guru Warren Buffett has ousted his friend and occasional bridge partner Bill Gates as the world’s richest man, Forbes magazine says.

The Microsoft co-founder had topped the Forbes business magazine’s rich-list for the past 13 years.

Mr Buffett’s wealth increased by $10bn (£5bn) last year to $62bn.

Mr Gates’s fortune climbed by $2bn during the same period, dragging him down to third on the list with a fortune of $58bn.

He was narrowly pipped into second place by the Mexican communications magnate Carlos Slim Helu, whose $60bn net worth has doubled in the past two years, Forbes reports.

Some Facts about him :

Nicknamed the “sage of Omaha” because of his phenomenal investment success, Mr Buffett, 77, has stakes in a range of companies, including Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble and Tesco.

Forbes says he filed his first tax return at the age of 13, claiming a $35 tax deduction for his bicycle.

After studying economics at New York’s Columbia Business School under investment guru Benjamin Graham, he began purchasing shares in textile firm Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 before buying a controlling stake in 1965.

The company’s stock price surged to a record $150,000 a share in December, just before Forbes formulated its 2008 ultra-rich list.

Two years ago, Mr Buffett pledged most of his Berkshire shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Some other Top People’s :

Mark Zuckerberg, 23, the founder of the social networking site Facebook, joins the list as the world’s youngest billionaire.

Bill Gates was the world’s richest man for 13 years - but no more

His $1.5bn fortune makes him the world’s 785th richest person, Forbes reports.

Patrice Motsepe joins the list as South Africa’s first black billionaire with a net worth of $2.4bn.

The world’s richest woman is the French L’Oreal chief, Liliane Bettencourt, 17th on the Forbes list with a net wealth of $22.9bn.

Other inclusions in the ultra-rich list include US chat-show host Oprah Winfrey, ($2.5bn), property mogul Donald Trump ($3bn), and Harry Potter author JK Rowling ($1bn).

Mr Gates might have secured his place at the top of the wealth-pile had Microsoft not made an unsolicited bid for rival Yahoo! last month: Microsoft shares plunged 15% in the two weeks following the bid.

Here’s list of FORBES TOP richest people’s in the world (in $bn)

• Warren Buffett (US): 62
• Carlos Slim (Mexico): 60
• Bill Gates (US): 58
• Lakshmi Mittal (India): 45
• Mukesh Ambani (India): 43
• Anil Ambani (India): 42
• Ingvar Kamprad (Sweden): 31
• KP Singh (US): 30
• Oleg Deripaska (Russia): 28
• Karl Albrecht (Germany): 27