Bill Gates Dethroned as World’s Second Richest Man - Should Africa Be Worried?

Bill Gates has been overtaken as the second-richest person in the world.

The 2019 Billionaires Index released yearly by Bloomberg shows that Bill Gates has been dethroned from the number two spot by Bernard Arnault.

Bill Gates was once the richest man in the world until he was topped by Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos in 2018.

Jeff Bezos was worth $150bn (£113bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index in 2018. His net worth has increased by over $60bn in the last 12 months, which enables him to remain the world's richest man.

On the other hand, Bill Gates could no longer hold on to the number two spot.

According to Bloomberg, Bernard Arnault who is the CEO of the world’s largest luxury-goods company is currently has a net worth of $108 billion.

His company has a long list of brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Marc Jacobs, Céline, Thomas Pink, Moët & Chandon, Hennessy, Dom Pérignon, Bulgari, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and Sephora.

But what does all this mean for Africa? Should we be concerned?

Gates' recent donation brings his total number of gifts to charitable donations to $50 billion, according to CNBC.

There is no denying the fact that Bill Gates through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has provided aid for Africa on countless occasions, especially in the area of polio and malaria prevention cum eradication.

Referred to as the champion over polio, the efforts of Bill Gates to eradicating the menace of polio in many countries across Africa will never go unnoticed.

In 2017, he openly declared that 'Humanity will see its last case of polio this year', and he did everything to achieve it!

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was a major partner alongside the Carter Center, CDC, WHO, and UNICEF in eradicating polio.

A 2018 report from financial research company Wealth-X predicted that the donations by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may be worth as much as $600 billion by 2022.

But would these donations continue now that Gate’s revenue continues to drop?

Arnault is the richest billionaire in Europe and is a big donor also. Following the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris, Arnault pledged $226 million to go towards the rebuilding.

But there has been no Billionaire in the world over that has ever supported humanity, especially in Africa as Bill Gates has, would this change?

Rounding out the top spots on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index are Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, 88 (at No. 4 with $83.9 billion net worth), plus Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 35, who ranks as the fifth-richest person thanks to a $79.5 billion net worth.

Header Image Credit: Medium