World’s Richest Gain $7.2 Billion As Buffett Ousts Ortega

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-10/world-s-richest-gain-7-2-billion-as-buffett-ousts-ortega.html

The 40 richest people on the planet added $7.2 billion to their collective net worth this week as Warren Buffett and Amancio Ortega dueled for the title of world’s third-richest person.

Ortega, 76, bumped Buffett, 81, from the No. 3 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Aug. 6, after shares of Inditex SA (ITX), the world’s largest clothing retailer, surged 3.8 percent in a day. The company’s stock fell 1.8 percent yesterday, dropping him again below the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) chairman.

Buffett is now worth $45.5 billion, according to the index. Ortega has a $44.8 billion fortune, up $9.5 billion this year.

“We’re treading water. It was a pretty flat market this week,” Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Harris Private Bank in Chicago, which oversees about $60 billion of assets, said in a phone interview. “Draghi kept his mouth closed and most of the other leaders are in their bathing suits some place.”