With nearly 60 billion dollars, Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates for the title of the world's richest person, Fortune magazine reports in its latest edition.
The strong performance by Slim's holdings on the Mexican stock exchange in recent months had pushed Gates into second place, after the US software magnate held the title for at least a decade.
"By our calculations, the 67-year-old Slim has amassed a 59 billion dollar fortune, based on the value of his public holdings at the end of July," Fortune said in its latest edition, due to hit newsstands this week.
"This number puts him just ahead of perennial number one, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is estimated to be at least 58 billion dollars."
Mexican financial website Sentido Comun reported last month that Slim, a heavyset and bearded 67-year-old, had overtaken Gates and estimated his personal fortune at almost 68 billion dollars.
While Slim has been steadily expanding his mobile phone and other businesses throughout Latin America, Gates, by comparison, has been channeling his energies into the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a non-profit organization he set up in 2000 to tackle health, education and literacy problems around the world.
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