Swede overtakes Gates as world's richest

Ingvar Kamprad, the Swede who founded furniture retail chain IKEA, reportedly overtakes Microsoft's Bill Gates as the world's richest man.

The story "Swede overtakes Gates as world's richest" published April 4, 2004 at 7:15 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[whodis]

that and bill gave $30b away

"the dollar's slide against other currencies is the main reason why Kamprad has now overtaken Gates" ...

What's 30 billion amongst SSI recipients?

If I get 8500+ US dollars to live on why should I sympathize with anyone with resources like that?

Isn't that a very shallow, pointless line of reasoning? Who could really care about such a topic, or movie stars, etcetera if you want to expand the topic's reach? None of these characters figure prominently in my budget or day-to-day living. I find ridiculous to put it mildly, although I suspect the first poster is referring to the notion the former richest man is American maybe (and this was a mistake made by an American, therefore some sign that the US is slipping)...come on!

[HughT]

Richest vs. Deserving

The contest over who is the richest should be broadened to include the way in which they became rich. IKEA has based it's success on a reputation of providing quality products at reasonable prices. Microsoft has gotten rich by overpricing faulty products, using their wealth to stifle competition, blatantly breaking laws in the US and abroad, bullying and intimidating not only thier competitors but also their own consumers and becoming more and more invasive into everyone's lives and privacy. Of course they enjoy the support of the US government in all of their activities even though the most victimized consumers are the US consumers.
Why aren't all the other rich crooks included in the survey? There must also be very rich drug lords and Mafia bosses who can stack up against people like Bill Gates to see who is the most successful.