The world’s richest person got even richer this year. Bill Gates’s net worth rose to $79.2bn in 2015 from $76bn last year, Forbes said.

The surging price of Microsoft shares returned US tech tycoon Bill Gates back to the top of Forbes’ world’s billionaires list, with his $76bn (€55bn) beating Mexico’s Carlos Slim’s $72bn.

Forbes released its annual list of the top 400 richest Americans.

THINGS are on the up for US billionaires with more than half of them adding to their net worth in a year which once again saw Bill Gates as the richest of them all, Forbes magazine said.

EARNING $1 million per hour, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has shot to number three on the latest Forbes magazine American rich list, the first on which all 400 members were billionaires.