Do the Billionaire Shuffle

Bill Gates is once again the world’s richest man, though he rules over a ravaged kingdom of billionaires. Forbes’ annual list has shriveled by nearly a third and $2 trillion in net worth. Those poor billionaires.

Gates is the sort of billionaire one can get behind. He has promised to will his entire fortune to charity and has already donated tens of billions.

Bloomberg:

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates regained the title of world’s richest person on Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of billionaires worldwide, as the global recession slashed the size of the list by 30 percent.

The number of billionaires fell to 793 from 1,125 last year. It was the first time since 2003 that the number of people on the list decreased, and the biggest drop since the magazine began the ranking 23 years ago.

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Prashant Panjiar

Bill Gates immunizes a child against polio during a visit to Nigeria.