AMERICA'S RICHEST AND WORLD RICHEST

On September 20th, Forbes released the 2007 Forbes 400 Richest People in America list. Also making it's inaugural release, is The REAL Richest People, who are making a difference. This list will focus on richness in giving with the aim of inspiring businesses and individuals to give of their profits and their time.

Recipients were selected not because of what they have but because of what they give. “True richness comes from the love of giving back to society and happens whether you make $10,000 or $10 million a year,” says list founder Tim Richardson.

The people on the list reflect the best about the joy of giving back to others by using their time, talents, and resources to make a difference in the world.

Nominees include a woman who has devoted her life to helping those suffering in war-torn countries, a man who was living in his car at age 18 but now is financially independent and working to eradicate poverty in the world, a twenty-something-year-old who founded an organization to educate children all over the world, a coffee-growing company that uses its profits to help educate people in the coffee growing regions of the world, and a former Microsoft VP who is setting up libraries in remote villages all over the world.

Inspirational speaker Tim Richardson compiled the list with the help of a volunteer team who looked throughout the US to find people who believe that REAL Richness comes from giving. The goal of the project is to change the perception of what it means to be rich by sharing a new message of wealth with the world. Richardson is also spear-heading the World's Biggest Blog Party, a project to try to raise over a million dollars for a number of charities. The project will use bloggers to write about people making a difference and the great work of philanthropic organizations, both small and large.

This positive project aims to redefine richness and focus media attention on internal rather than external wealth. After all, Richardson says, "It's not about how good you are, it's about what good you do."

THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD
1. William H. Gates III

Age: 43
Nationality: American
Martial Status: Married
Children: 2
Education: Harvard dropout
Worth: $90 Billion

We should all just face the fact that Bill Gates will one day rule the world. By the time Windows 2015 comes out, all will fear Bill's wrath. But you gotta admit that it doesn't look like it went to his head; the richest human on Earth, and he has the dorkiest haircut money could buy.

The son of a lawyer father and teacher mother, Gates dropped out of preschool to devote all of his time to inventing Microsoft with chum Paul Allen, then just 3 years old. After drooling all over the HVAC tubes, Bill decided to go back to school for a few more years, eventually dropping out of Harvard University to work on Microsoft.

The rest, as they all too frequently say, is history. Microsoft became this huge international corporate behemoth, and is currently fighting off anti-trust investigations and accusations that it holds a monopoly. When Bill rules the world, he's going to come down and fire those federal court judges with extreme prejudice. They'll never work on his planet again!

Gates relinquished his role as President of Microsoft in 1998, and as CEO on January 13, 2000; both posts are now held by Steve Ballmer. However, Bill remains Chairman and "chief software architect" of the company, as well as its largest shareholder. So they still let him come to board meetings.

Mr. Bill once gave $17 Billion to charity, which makes Ted Turner's paltry offering of $1 billion to the UN look like chump change. He's also written a couple of books and is heavily invested in biotechnology and cellular and satellite technology. Investors, call your brokers.


THE WORLD'S RICHEST PEOPLE. (2007) - More amazing video clips are a click away

This list of the 100 wealthiest people is a list of the world's 100 wealthiest people as of February 11, 2008, based on each person's total net worth. The total net worth is an estimate measured in United States dollars, based on the closing stock prices of the stock exchanges on which each person's company is listed, and exchange rates on February 11, 2008. Stock prices are defined as shares of ownership in a corporation, and exchange rates are defined as how much one currency is worth in terms of another. This list only represents each person's valuation on a single day due to daily fluctuations among exchange rates and stock valuations.

The world's wealthiest people
Warren Buffett
Carlos Slim Helú
Bill Gates
Lakshmi Mittal

Contents [hide]
1 Top billionaires
2 References
3 External links



[edit] Top billionaires
The following list is the ranking of the world's richest billionaires on February 11, 2008, and does not reflect changes since that date. The top three countries with the most billionaires are: United States with 32, Russia with 18, and India with 10.