Bill Gates is history. That’s right folks! There’s a new guy who now claims the title as the world’s richest person.

He’s the Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu.

Carlos Slim Helu
Carlos Slim Helu: World’s richest man 

According to the Mexican financial website Sentido Comun, the Mexican billionaire’s wealth had rocketed past the founder of the Microsoft empire following the red-hot performance of his telecommunications firm, America Movil.

The Mexican financial website said Slim’s lead over Gates is not slim at all since it amounted to billions of dollars.

“Thanks to a 26.5-percent rise in the shares of America Movil during the second quarter, Slim, who controls a 33-percent interest in Latin America’s largest mobile phone company, is substantially richer than Gates,” Sentido Comun said.

“The difference between their two fortunes is around nine billion dollars in favor of Slim,” the financial website claimed.

One reason for Slim’s meteoric rise might be because he is also still working.

Gates stepped aside as Microsoft chief in 2000 to devote his energies to the philanthropic foundation he runs with his wife, Melinda.

Forbes magazine in April had pegged Slim’s wealth at a staggering 53.1 billion dollars.

Slim, the son of Lebanese immigrants, has had business in his blood from his early days when he helped out in his father’s shop, “The Star of the Orient.”

The 67-year-old started out in real estate and was already affluent enough when he graduated from university with an engineering degree to buy stakes in a stock brokerage and a bottling firm.

Despite his vast riches, Slim reportedly shuns corporate jets and flashy offices and sported a plastic watch during the 1990s.

Widowed in 1999, Slim has boosted his philanthropic presence and overseen his three sons’ careers within his business empire.

Like Gates, he has developed a strong profile on the philanthropic front.

Earlier this month he allied himself with the foundation of former US president Bill Clinton and with Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra to launch an anti-poverty campaign in Latin America.

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