Who is the richest man in the world?
past two years. Forbes.com reported that the list of the world’s rich not only shifted relative positions (which is normal) but also shrank significantly. And the newest richest man in the world has been there before: Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Why do we care? For the most part, we do not. But there is always that masochistic streak of curiosity that simply makes one want to know what the “haves” have and how much of it they have over the “have nots.” Forbes magazine and others that list the richest, the landed, and the famous, (not to mention make money off of publicizing the difference, often making them even more wealthy) realize and take advantage of that masochism with almost sadistic relish. But then, the “have nots” allow it, so what is so wrong with publicizing the brass ring? And, besides, who doesn’t like a list? According to Forbes, there were 1125 billionaires in the world a year ago. This year, that number on the rich list fell to a staggering 793 individuals. Of those that f
