Bill Gates drops out of world’s top 10 richest after $51B wiped from net worth

The dramatic drop followed a July 3 recalculation by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which updated how Gates’ fortune is measured to better account for his philanthropic contributions and personal wealth disclosure recently shared on his blog, Gates Notes.

In the next couple of days, his net worth sank from $175 billion to $124 billion, pushing him down to 12th place on the list behind fellow tech mogul Michael Dell.

Gates, who once held the title of the world’s richest person for 18 years, previously ranked fifth before the revision, Fortune reported.

Steve Ballmer, his former Microsoft colleague and right-hand man, now occupies his position with an estimated fortune of $174 billion.

Billionaire Bill Gates in Paris, France, April 16, 2018. Photo by Reuters

Gates has long made it clear he intends to give away the vast majority of his fortune, and that goal is now being reflected in his net worth.

In the May 8 blog post mentioned by Bloomberg, he pinned his own wealth stood at $108 billion and expects the figure to fall by 99% over the next 20 years.

"I will give away virtually all my wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world," he wrote.

He also announced a change in the foundation’s timeline. Instead of closing decades after the death of him and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, it is now set to wind down by 2045 as he believes the foundation's goals can be achieved sooner by doubling down on key investments and giving partners more certainty.

Gates, who will be 70 this fall, sees this new phase of giving as the final chapter of his career and hopes to live long enough to see the difference it makes.

"Well, I wish I had even more time. But I have to say, 'OK, this is the last part of my life. And I'm a steward of these resources,'" he told CBS News. "I should make sure that it's well spent. And now this is the last stage of all that."

Asked whether he would miss being a billionaire, Gates laughed and said: "No, I won't. I hope I'm still alive when we finish the 20 years, but I will save a little bit to be able to buy hamburgers as much as I need."