Gates back on top of Forbes' billionaire rankings

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates is back on top of the money heap.

According to Forbes' magazine latest billionaire ranking list, Gates reclaimed his spot at No. 1 with an estimated net worth of $76 billion. He's topped the list 15 of the past 20 years, losing his place to Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who had topped the list for the past four years. Slim Helu is No. 2 on this year's list at $72 billion, according to a report from the Associated Press.

AP reports a record 1,645 billionaires made the list this year; that's up from 1,426 billionaires last year. Total net worth of this year's list was $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion last year.

Facebook's Marc Zuckerberg was the fastest climber, doubling his fortune to $28.5 billion. Like Zuckerberg, AP reports 1,080 of the  billionaires were self-made.

Bass Pro Shops founder John Morris tied for No. 375 on the list, with a reported net worth of $4 billion.

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