2008 Forbes Billionaires List On March 6 Beijing Time, the "2008 Forbes Billionaires List" was announced. Bill Gates, who had been ranked as the world's richest person by Forbes for 13 consecutive years, was overtaken yesterday by his good friend Warren Buffett. Yesterday, Forbes released its latest list of global billionaires. Due to a significant increase in the stock price of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's net worth surged to $62 billion, giving him a substantial $4 billion lead over Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, thus claiming the title of the world's richest person. This year, China also has 75 people on the 2008 Forbes Billionaires List, with Li Ka-shing, chairman of Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Holdings, falling from 9th place last year to 11th place this year. Yang Huiyan, executive director of Country Garden Holdings, tops the list of 42 individuals from mainland China.