Money | Warren Buffett Buffet Unseats Gates as Richest Man on Earth He's worth $62B; Gates is now third with $58B. By Zach Samalin Posted Mar 5, 2008 7:44 PM CST Copied Billionaire investor Warren Buffett speaks in New York in this June 26, 2007 file photo. With an estimated valued of $62 billion, Buffett is now the richest man on earth. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano, file) (Associated Press) Bill Gates has passed the gilded torch: Warren Buffett and Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim have ended the Microsoft founder's 13-year reign as richest man on earth, Forbes reports. Buffett's fortune grew $10 billion this year to $62 billion, while Slim weighs in with an estimated $60 billion. Gates trails with a piddling $58 billion. Gates' total increased $2 billion since last year; that growth, however, was stymied by Microsoft's recent $45 billion bid to purchase Yahoo, which hurt the software company's share price. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway spiked to $150,000 a share in December, before leveling out at $137,000 this week. Buffett has reserved a majority of his fortune for the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, after his death. Read These Next Beyonce leaves national anthem unfinished. Musk says his new party is in business. A Texas man's disappearance is fodder for true-crime mania. Kerr County considered a flood warning system years ago. Report an error