Bill Gates made his largest single gift since the turn of the century, giving away Microsoft Corp. shares that accounted for 5 percent of his fortune, the world’s biggest.
The billionaire donated 64 million of the software maker’s shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 6, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings released Monday. The shares were valued at $4.6 billion at the moment.
Gates stays the richest person on earth after the contribution with a fortune the Bloomberg Billionaires Index valued at $86 billion as of 10:40 a.m. Tuesday in New York. His contribution once more puts Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos near the top spot, with a net worth of $84.5 billion.
Bezos, 53, whose fortune has soared 30 percent since Jan. 1, temporarily leapfrogged Gates last month to become the planet’s wealthiest individual on an intraday basis.
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