Bill Gates tops list of world's richest people

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has again topped Forbes' list of the world's richest people, in a year when the number of billionaires rose 13% to 2,043.

According to the magazine's annual rich list, Gates' fortune rose to $86 billion followed by US investor Warren Buffett with $75.6 billion.

It was bad news for US President Donald Trump who slipped 220 spots to 544 and now sits on just $3.5 billion.

Forbes said the $1 billion fall in Trump’s wealth was due to the slow US property market.

There were 183 tech billionaires on the Forbes list, with a combined $1 trillion in wealth.

The list is dominated by US billionaires.

Others in the top 10 included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who moved up to number three with the biggest gain of any person on the planet, a $27.6 billion rise in his fortune of $72.8 billion.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was number five and Oracle co‑founder Larry Ellison was number seven.

The global population of billionaires, now put at a record 2,043, marks the biggest annual increase in the 31 years since the magazine began compiling the list.

The number of US billionaires on the list was 565, which Forbes attributed to the recent stock market surge in Trump's November 2016 election.

China was second with 319 billionaires, and Germany was third with 114.

The number of women on the list rose to 227 from 202, giving them a collective net worth of $852.8bn.

For the second year running France's Liliane Bettencourt, the L'Oreal cosmetics heiress was the world's wealthiest woman with a $39.5bn net worth.

Forbes said most of the richest women inherited their fortune.

But the list also contained 15 new "self‑made" women, mostly from Asian countries, including Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao of budget airline VietJet air.

Forbes' top ten:

Bill Gates (Microsoft co‑founder): $86bn

Warren Buffett (US investor): $75.6bn

Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder): $72.8bn

Amancio Ortega (Inditex founder): $71.3bn

Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder): $56bn

Carlos Slim (Mexican magnate): $54.5bn

Larry Ellison (Oracle co‑founder): $52.2bn

Charles Koch (US businessman): $48.3bn

David Koch (US businessman): $48.3bn

Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg founder): $47.5bn

Source: BBC