Who's Number One?

(Warren Buffett, current holder of the title, "World's Richest Person", pays homage to Marcel Marceau by performing the classic mime piece, "Billionaire Inside A Small Box")

Not that I waste a lot of time on matters like this, but it has been pointed out that, after 12 or 13 years atop the listing of "World's Richest People", Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been replaced by super-investor Warren Buffett. Indeed, Gates has dropped to Third in the rankings, following Buffett and Mexican telecommunications magnate "Carlos Slim" Helu [maybe it's just me, but, if I were to become a potential investor in the Helu empire, I'd be concerned that the man running the show chose to call himself "Carlos Slim". Sounds more like a potential player on the "World Poker Tour", if you know what I mean. For that matter, "Bill" Gates doesn't sound all that secure, either]

According to the good folks at Forbes.com (the source for this posting at MSN.com;http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/GatesDethronedBuffettIsRichest.aspx?GT1=33009.), Gates may well have held onto the coveted top spot, except for an ill-fated effort by Microsoft to purchase mega-Internet portal Yahoo! [proving once again that even the world's richest people have to be careful what they buy].

Let it be noted that those who follow Buffett's investment choices profit, too. Late last year, his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway [the second name selected in honor of Jane Hathaway, plucky secretary to Mr. Drysdale on TV's "The Beverly Hillbillies], was worth USD$150, 000 per share, before dropping to its current level of around USD$111,000 per share [I wish my "portfolio" (and I use that term extremely loosely) would "drop" to that level!].

Of course, no human being could spend that kind of money in a lifetime. Buffett has, in the last year or so, begun transferring his wealth to the charitable foundation operated by Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda. A brief listing of some of his many charities follows:

-Computers In Schools

-Computers In Rest Rooms

-Hiring The Homeless To Go "Nyah-Nyah" At Yahoo! Users

-The Foundation To Assure That Bill Gates Is The Richest Person In The

World (Hey, waitta minute!)

-Mike Riley

P.S.: Check out the "Video Of The Week". [It's not the version I wanted to put there; Cohen's original is at http://youtube.com/watch?v=tFBKV0zVXSE. But, for various reasons, I can't embed it. The "Alternate Version" isn't bad, though. But check out the original. Maybe the best thing he's ever done...