Although he lost almost a fifth of his net worth in the past year, Microsoft Corp founder Bill Gates remained the richest man in the United States, with a fortune of $43 billion, according to Forbes magazine.The Forbes 400 list will be published in the September 30 issue of the magazine.Gates lost $11 billion last year, but still remained ahead of investor Warren Buffett — one of the few on the list to see his fortunes increase in a year when an economic recession brought a sharp drop in stock prices. Buffett holds the No 2 spot, increasing his net worth from $33 billion to $36 billion. Rounding out the top 10 are Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen with $21 billion at No 3, the five heirs to the late Sam Walton’s Wal-Mart fortune (each with $18.8 billion at No 4), Oracle’s Larry Ellison with $15.2 billion at No 9 and Microsoft President Steve Ballmer with $11.9 billion at No 10. It took $550 million to make the list this year. The youngest on the list is Daniel Ziff, 30, with an inherited fortune of $1.2 billion, while the oldest is investor Max Martin Fisher, 94, with $750 million.
