Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 10:50PM ET - U.S. Markets Closed.

World's Billionaires - #3

Wednesday, March 5, 2008provided by

© REMI OCHLIK/Maxppp/Landov

William Gates III
United States
$58.0 bil

• Harvard dropout and Microsoft visionary no longer the world's richest man.
• Blame Yahoo!: Microsoft shares have fallen 15% since the company boldly attempted to merge with the search engine giant to better fight Google for Internet dominance.
• Gates is preparing to give up day-to-day involvement in the company he co-founded 33 years ago to spend more time focused on his philanthropic endeavors.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has $38.7 billion in assets, donates to causes aimed at bringing financial tools to the poor, speeding up the development of vaccines (for AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis), bettering America's lagging high schools.
• Sells 20 million Microsoft shares every quarter, proceeds going to private investment vehicle Cascade; more than half of net worth now outside of Microsoft.
• Company spent $6 billion to land Web ad company Aquantive last May.
• Would-be rival to Apple's iPod, the Zune, not yet a hit.
• Believes Microsoft's far-flung bets, including 10-year affair with Internet-based television, may soon pay off; says next 10 years will be the "most interesting" in software history.

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Rates

See today's average rates across the country.

• Mortgage

  Loan Type	Today	Last Week
  30 Year Fixed	4.93%	4.96%
  15 Year Fixed	4.53%	4.53%
  1 Year ARM	3.90%	3.92%
  30 Year Fixed Jumbo	5.99%	5.90%
  5/1 ARM	4.19%	4.21%
  3/1 ARM	4.74%	4.75%

  Source: Bankrate
• Home Equity

  Loan Type	Today	Last Week
  $30K Home Equity Loan	8.35%	8.36%
  $50K Home Equity Loan	8.20%	8.22%
  $75K Home Equity Loan	8.23%	8.25%
  $30K HELOC	5.22%	5.22%
  $50K HELOC	4.95%	4.96%
  $75K HELOC	4.95%	4.96%

  Source: Bankrate
• Savings

  Savings Type	Today	Last Week
  6 month CD	1.06%	1.10%
  1 year CD	1.54%	1.58%
  3 year CD	2.19%	2.22%
  MMA	0.96%	1.01%
  $10K MMA	1.03%	1.09%
  $25K MMA	1.24%	1.30%

  Source: Bankrate
• Auto

  Loan Type	Today	Last Week
  36 Month New Car Loan	6.66%	6.67%
  48 Month New Car Loan	6.78%	6.79%
  60 Month New Car Loan	6.82%	6.83%
  72 Month New Car Loan	6.12%	6.12%
  36 Month Used Car Loan	7.16%	7.15%
  48 Month Used Car Loan	7.00%	7.02%

  Source: Bankrate
• Credit Cards

  Card Type	Today	Last Week
  Business Credit Cards	9.74%	9.74%
  Low Interest Credit Cards	11.65%	11.65%
  Cash Back Credit Cards	12.08%	12.08%
  Balance Transfer Credit Cards	12.13%	12.13%
  Reward Credit Cards	13.29%	13.29%
  Instant Approval Credit Cards	13.32%	13.32%

  Source: CreditCards.com

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