Bill Gates Has Been Overtaken As Fourth Richest Man In The World

A man has beaten Bill Gates to fourth richest man in the world after adding $36 billion to his fortune this year.

Until 2018, American business magnate and co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gates was the richest man in the world, but then along came the likes of executive chair of Amazon Jeff Bezos, co-founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk.

While Gates managed to hold on to fourth position for a while, he's since been overtaken by an Indian billionaire.

On Thursday, 21 July, Indian tycoon Gautam Adani's net worth soared to a mega $112.5 billion (£93.71 billion) according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

At the time of writing it is currently at $112 billion.

Gates has subsequently fallen to fifth place and is currently worth $112 billion.

Musk remains in the top spot with a ridiculous wealth of $242 billion and Bezos follows in second with $146 billion.

While falling a place behind seems like a bad thing, Gates is actually trying to get himself off the list of the world's richest people.

This month, he pledged to give $20 billion to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and he's since donated close to $5.2 billion worth of stock in Canadian National Railway Co; his end goal set as giving away 'virtually all' of his wealth.

"I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives. And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too," he tweeted.

Adani reached the fourth spot as a billionaire industrialist and philanthropist.

In 1988, he founded the Adani group - a 'leading integrated business conglomerate enriching lives, creating substantial value and empowering India through #GrowthWithGoodness', according to the company's website.

Adani has also been aligning his actions with the agendas of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in regards to building the nation.

Adani's business has extended far outside of India though too, with the tycoon having signed a pact with Posco - a steel producer in South Korea - as well as displaying an interest in buying a stake in Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company Saudi Aramco.

However, in November 2021 he said he's planning on using part of his extreme wealth to invest in green energy and that by 2030, he would invest $70 billion across the green energy value chain.

Although, Adani has previously faced intense criticism from environmentalists for investing in Australia's Carmichael coal mine project, with a protest banner having branded him a, 'Climate criminal'.

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