Bill Gates no longer richest man

[beatdrum]

Not sure if many of you remember it, but about 7 or so years back, there was talk about Gates being the first man to eclipse $1 Trillion. Obviously, Microsoft stock has been pretty flat over the past half decade and that prediction was pretty premature. I remember it pretty well, because I had bought some stock in MSFT a year earlier and my investment had nearly doubled. Soon thereafter the stock fell significantly after the anti-trust lawsuit. I don't think they have those type of lawsuits in Mexico .

Someone will eventually be a Trillionaire, I wonder how much longer it will take?

My guess: 2018

I don't think anyone will ever be worth 1 trillion dollars.

[Coppermine]

Not sure if many of you remember it, but about 7 or so years back, there was talk about Gates being the first man to eclipse $1 Trillion. Obviously, Microsoft stock has been pretty flat over the past half decade and that prediction was pretty premature. I remember it pretty well, because I had bought some stock in MSFT a year earlier and my investment had nearly doubled. Soon thereafter the stock fell significantly after the anti-trust lawsuit. I don't think they have those type of lawsuits in Mexico .

Someone will eventually be a Trillionaire, I wonder how much longer it will take?

My guess: 2018

I don't think anyone will ever be worth 1 trillion dollars.

Are you the guy who said that a patent office is useless because "everything that can be invented has been invented" in 1889?

Oh, no, that was Charled Dell, the U.S. Commissioner of Patents.

I think the thing that people didn't expect was that Gates would give away billion upon billions of dollars to charity or that he'd step down as Chairman of Microsoft in 2006 to "dedicate his life to philanthropy."

Ugh, what an a-hole.

PS - "Kids... this is what happens to smart people when they get rich (Bill Gates) and to dumb people when they get rich (Pacman Jones). Any questions?"

[Omaha Red Sox]

PS - "Kids... this is what happens to smart people when they get rich (Bill Gates) and to dumb people when they get rich (Pacman Jones). Any questions?"

[blankman]

wow. great read. admittingly, ive never even heard of this guy, but i will agree id much rather own one monoply than investing in many different things.

I wouldn't.

Diversification. You aren't susceptible to industry risk like the tech bubble for example.

[The Artful Dodger]

wow. great read. admittingly, ive never even heard of this guy, but i will agree id much rather own one monoply than investing in many different things.

I wouldn't.

Diversification. You aren't susceptible to industry risk like the tech bubble for example.

Yeah, which is why Slim has just bet his money on different kinds of ventures and industries.

I think what Snakes and I agree on is that it's more fun (and glamorous) to build a business from the ground up to dominate a market and an industry the way Bill Gates and Microsoft has. It's just the romantic idea that I can take a product or business that I have a substantial extent of control with into making a successful enterprise out of. I could see myself being easily disenchanted throwing money around (albeit they're all calculated bets) even if it's a business turnaround operation like Slim has.