Investor George Soros, aged 81, was placed for the first time among the top ten billionaires of this year’s 400 richest Americans conducted by Forbes magazine.
The ranking is led by Bill Gates with a net worth of 59 billion dollars, up by $5 billion. The founder of Microsoft was the richest American each year starting in 1994.
All of the top 20 billionaires saw their wealth increased, with the exception of Warren Buffett, whose fortune fell by $6 billion to 39 billion dollars due to reduced Berkshire Hathaway shareholder value.
Buffett, ranked second in Forbes ranking, asked President Barack Obama to charge more taxes to millionaires and has pledged to give up 99% of his fortune to charity.
Soros ranked seventh with a fortune of $22 billion, which increased by 7.8 billion dollars, mainly due to investments in gold.
Forbes published the list after president Barack Obama has proposed higher taxes for millionaires, so they pay taxes as middle-class Americans, the proposal called “Buffett’s rule”.
The third is the founder of Oracle, Larry Wllison, whose fortune rose $6 billion to 33 billion dollars.
Chrysty Walton, heiress to founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton, dropped on the sixth place with $24.5 billion, despite an increase in wealth of $500 million.