BILL GATES
NET WORTH: $76 billion.
Helped by a bounce in shares of Microsoft, Bill Gates returns to the top of our annual Billionaires list this year after a four year hiatus. He is worth $9 billion more than a year ago, and has now been the world’s richest person for 15 out of the past 20 years. The Microsoft cofounder, who stepped down as chairman this year, has agreed to spend more time helping the software company’s product managers work on innovations. Meanwhile, Gates, who has given away more than $28 billion in his lifetime, remains focused on his foundation's efforts to eradicate polio and getting fellow billionaires more involved with philanthropy.
LARRY ELLISON
NET WORTH: $48 billion.
CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison is worth $5 billion more in 2014, thanks to rising value of his software company’s shares. In September, his Oracle Team USA pulled off a stunning comeback from a seven-race deficit to win its second consecutive America’s Cup sailing race. Ever the competitor, Oracle’s cofounder said in an August interview that Apple's best days are behind it after the passing of close friend Steve Jobs and that Google's alleged infringement on Oracle's patents in its Android software was "absolutely evil." His daughter Megan is a growing Hollywood powerhouse and has financed a string of critical successes including American Hustle and Zero Dark Thirty.
LARRY PAGE
NET WORTH: $32.3 billion.
CEO Larry Page is rearranging the furniture at Google. Over two weeks in January, he announced his company's $3.2 billion, all-cash acquisition of thermostat-maker Nest as well as the $2.9 billion sale of its Motorola phone business to Lenovo. Shareholders aren't blinking an eye. The search giant's stock continues to trade at record highs and is up about 50% year-over-year as of mid-February. That's caused the net worths of cofounders Page and Sergey Brin to surge past the $30 billion mark on the list for the first time. In April, Google will undergo a stock split to introduce new Class C shares that will carry no voting power. That move will consolidate the voting power of executives including Page, who owns nearly 24 million Class B shares, which carry 10-to-one voting power.
