He may be retired, but that's not kept Bill Gates from regaining the top spot as the richest man in the world.

Gates, 57, who co-founded and led Microsoft to the top of the tech world before retiring from day-to-day operations in 2008, has a fortune valued at $72.7 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

The feat was reached because Microsoft's stock has been on a tear and increased Gates' fortune by $10 billion. Since the start of 2013, Microsoft shares have climbed 28%, despite the struggles of the company's latest operating system, Windows 8.

At the same time, Mexico's Carlos Slim has seen his fortune's fall as a result of a bill passed by Mexico's Congress that loosened the stranglehold his company, America Movil SAB, had on the Mexican telecommunications market, according to Bloomberg. Slim's fortune fell by $2 billion to $72.1 billion.

Gates previously held the title of richest man in 2007, when he was unseated by Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway. Since his retirement the following year, Gates has focused on philanthropy work through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

沪江英语快讯： 时隔六年，微软创始人比尔-盖茨昨天超越墨西哥富豪卡洛斯-斯利姆，再次成为全球首富。这是自2007年以来，盖茨首次成为全球首富，得益于微软的股价触及近5年新高。据称，盖茨拥有的财富大约为727亿美元，较一年前增长了16%。

同时，前世界首富墨西哥富豪卡洛斯-斯利姆拥有的美洲最大的移动通信公司美洲电信（America Movil）的市值今年以来已经下降了14%。此前墨西哥国会通过了一项可能会终结该公司在市场占据统治地位的法案。而公司市值的下降也使卡洛斯-斯利姆的净财富减少了超过30亿美元。

沃伦-巴菲特，伯克希尔·哈萨韦公司董事长，是全球第三富有的人，其拥有597亿美元价值。谷歌联合创始人拉里-佩奇以及谢尔盖-布林的财富较一年前增长了22%。他两人的排名分列第18位和第19位。

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