Buffet replaces Bill to claim title of richest man

US investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett has taken the title of the world’s richest man away from his friend Bill Gates after 13 years, business magazine Forbes said.

For the first time, the Forbes’ 2008 list revealed 1,125 men and women made it in to the ultra-rich club which has a combined net worth of $4.4 trillion (€2.87tn), with two-thirds classified as self-made.

This year’s list includes a record 50 people under the age of 40. Six are Irish citizens, including a reclusive 78-year-old construction magnate who lives in Mumbai, India.