Bill Gates reclaims his place at the top of Forbes’ list of top billionaires

The annual billionaire list for Forbes has more interesting things to note this year than ever. The most important news being Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates regaining his position as the world’s richest man after a span of four years, which is worthy of being mentioned after the recent years trouble for Microsoft. He snatched the title from Carlos Slim Helu, the famed telecom tycoon from Mexico, with his fortune of $78 billion.

Forbes is out with its list of the world’s top billionaires, and Bill Gates is once again at the top of the list. His $76 billion puts him ahead of Mexico’s Carlos Slim ($72 billion) and Amancio Ortega ($64 billion). The Forbes list calculates wealth by total assets, and that is certainly a reasonable way to do it, given that today’s billionaires are global in nature. But it’s also worth pondering geographic differences. If Gates buys most of his goods and services in the United States, but Slim consumes most of his goods and services in Mexico, Slim might be wealthier because you get a lot more for a dollar in Mexico.