Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index estimated that Bill Gates’s fortune increased by $15.8 billion in calendar year 2013, reaching $78.5 billion by year-end. The Microsoft stock figure is less settled: GeekWire reported a 35% gain, while contemporaneous reports in The Washington Post, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times attributed a 40% rise to Bloomberg’s index coverage. The available accounts do not explain the difference.
How much did Bill Gates’s fortune increase in 2013?
Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index estimated Gates’s wealth rose by $15.8 billion during 2013, to $78.5 billion. Those figures were reported contemporaneously in January 2014 by GeekWire, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times.
The $78.5 billion was an estimate of net worth, not cash available to spend. It is a historical year-end figure, not a statement of Gates’s current wealth.
How much did Microsoft stock rise in 2013?
The contemporaneous reports give two different figures. GeekWire’s January 3, 2014 account said Microsoft stock gained 35% in 2013. The Washington Post, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times reported a 40% increase, attributing that figure to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index coverage.
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| Reported Microsoft gain | Source and attribution |
|---|---|
| 35% | GeekWire, reporting on 2013, published January 3, 2014: report. |
| 40% | Bloomberg-sourced figure reported by The Washington Post, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times in January 2014: The Washington Post, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times. |
The accounts do not establish why the percentages differ. They do not provide enough detail about the price dates, price basis, or calculation method to reconcile the figures. It would be misleading to average them or present either one as definitively correct across all sources.
Why the stock gain does not explain the full increase in Gates’s fortune
The wealth increase should not be treated as Microsoft’s share-price movement multiplied by Gates’s Microsoft stake. Bloomberg-sourced reporting said less than one quarter of his fortune was held in Microsoft shares. The Washington Post reported that most of his assets were held through Cascade Investment, which had investments across public and private businesses.
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Other holdings also appreciated in 2013. Bloomberg-sourced accounts reported that Canadian National Railway rose 34% and Ecolab rose 45% that year. These reported gains help explain why Gates’s estimated wealth could rise through a broader portfolio, rather than Microsoft shares alone.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the 2013 ranking tells us—and what it does not
The Washington Post and The Guardian reported that Gates regained the world’s richest-person position from Carlos Slim in May 2013. The ranking was Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, described by The Washington Post as covering the 300 wealthiest people.
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The reports establish what the index was estimated to show at the time. The original Bloomberg index page and its underlying valuation methodology are not available in the cited accounts, so the precise inputs behind the $15.8 billion change and the competing Microsoft percentages cannot be independently resolved from these reports.
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