The three men pictured here have been playing musical chairs for quite some time in their pursuit of the title of the richest man on the planet. That title has been extremely competitive in recent months.
The man in the middle, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is Warren Buffett who currently holds that title as his fortune recently swelled to an estimated $62 billion … up $10 billion from a year ago. That massive increase puts Buffett ahead of his close friend and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who was the richest man in the world for 13 straight years.
The man on the right is Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu who currently reigns as the second-richest man on earth with an estimated net worth of $60 billion … up $11 billion since last year. His fortune has doubled in the past two years.
The man on the left, of course, is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates who is currently worth $58 billion, up $2 billion from last year, placing him in the position of the world’s third richest man. Gates would have been perhaps as rich–or richer–than Buffett had Microsoft not made a recent unsolicited bid for Yahoo!
Warren Buffett, admired and respected by many in the business world, is indeed unique among today’s investors and leaders. To learn more about “why” this is true, check out one of our most recent book reviews The TAO of Warren Buffett or his captivating bio at Little-known Facts about Well-known Leaders – Warren Buffett.
For example, Buffett recently issued a challenge to members of the Forbes 400 richest Americans list, saying he would donate $1 million to charity if the collective group (or a significant number of them) would admit they pay less taxes, as a percentage of income, than their secretaries.
A leader of this caliber should be in Washington, D.C. where he’d really shake things up.
About Harry K. Jones
Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.