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Bill Gates's Net Worth Hits $90 Billion (bloomberg.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the that's-a-lot-of-zeros dept.

schwit1 quotes a report from Bloomberg: The net worth of the world's richest person Bill Gates hit $90 billion on Friday, fueled by gains in public holdings including Canadian National Railway Company and Ecolab Inc. Gates's fortune is now $13.5 billion bigger than that of the world's second-wealthiest person, Spanish retail mogul Amancio Ortega, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. At $90 billion, the Microsoft Corp. co-founder's net worth is equal to 0.5 percent of U.S. GDP. Less than two weeks ago, Bill Gates topped Forbes' "100 Richest Tech Billionaires In The World 2016" (Warning: may be paywalled) list with an estimated fortune of $78 billion.

6 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Nope, no wealth inequality here by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    none whatsoever.

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    1. Re:Nope, no wealth inequality here by somenickname · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sorry but there's no way one person should be allowed to acquire so much personal wealth that in the list of the worlds 191 countries by GDP, he individually is the 68th richest.

      http://statisticstimes.com/eco...

      Using the word "allowed" kind of implies that there should be laws against becoming rich. That's a terrible idea. The real issue is that society has become so tilted in the favor of the rich that individual humans have more wealth than many countries. Don't hate the ultra-rich person, hate the world that created them.

    2. Re:Nope, no wealth inequality here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      doesn't that mean taking my money and giving to some dumb lazy bum?

      This is exactly the sort of belief that keeps society locked into the status quo. If you redistributed wealth as most people agreed as fair, then sure, lazy bums would get more money. So would every single blue and pink collar worker, most managers, and basically everyone who isn't a rockstar or fortune 500 executive. You have no idea how badly you're being fucked and yet you continue to cheer for it. Why?

    3. Re:Nope, no wealth inequality here by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 4, Insightful

      . He didn't have daddy give him a few million to get started

      No, just be on the board of IBM to help him get MS DOS on literally every machine. And his dad was worth millions, so getting some startup cash wasn't impossible.

      That said, he is giving away a lot of his cash.

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  2. No biggie by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am also worth $90 billion, give or take $90 billion.

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  3. Other admirable traits by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I seriously admire Bill for the passion he has for helping the world's most vulnerable -- and in that vein I'm surprised to see his stockpile of cash going UP and not down...

    I seriously admire his talent for amassing huge sums of money by breaking the law, and getting away with a slap on the wrist.

    I don't have that level of chutzpah - I'd have always been afraid of getting caught. He must have had a different upbringing from mine.