Bill Gates is once again the world’s richest person. The 57-year-old co-founder of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. recaptured the title from Mexican investor Carlos Slim Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the software maker hit a five-year high. It is the first time Gates has held the mantle since 2007. His fortune is valued at US$72.7 billion, up 16% year-to-date.

Slim’s America Movil SAB, the largest mobile-phone operator in the Americas, has dropped 14% this year after Mexico’s Congress passed a bill that could quash the billionaire’s market dominance. That’s helped erase more than US$3 billion from the 73-year-old tycoon’s net worth. Slim's Net worth is now valued at US$ 72.10 billion.

Microsoft Rally

Microsoft shares have surged 28% this year, buoyed by cost controls and sales of business and server software amid weak demand for personal computers running the new Windows 8 operating system. Gates’s fortune has also benefited from a rally in stock holdings that include the Canadian National Railway Co. and waste-collection company Republic Services Inc.

Buffett, Ortega

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman Warren Buffett is the world’s third-richest person with US$59.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg ranking. He is US$3.7 billion ahead of Spaniard Amancio Ortega, Europe’s wealthiest person. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, ranks fifth with a US$55.6 billion fortune. The world’s largest furniture retailer generated more than US$36 billion in revenue and US$4 billion in net income in 2012. Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have seen their fortunes rise more than 22% year-to-date as shares of world’s most popular search provider have surged. They rank No. 18 and No. 19 respectively. (www.bloomberg.com)