Technology's Richest Billionaires

Bill Gates loses top spot, but stock surge lifts fortunes of youngest and once-young technology moguls.

 

In Pictures: Technology's Richest Billionaires

Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man.

Though the software visionary's net worth rose $13 billion to a whopping $53 billion in the last year, he was ousted from the top of the money bin by Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who took the No. 1 spot on Forbes' billionaire list this year, with a fortune of $53.5 billion.
Despite this coup, the top 10 richest tech billionaires saw their fortunes rise a collective $55.8 billion over the past year, helped by a surge in the value of technology stocks.
The biggest gainer besides Gates was Indian software czar Azim Premji, whose net worth jumped more than $11 billion to $17 billion. Premji is the chairman of Wipro ( WIT - news - people ), India's third-largest software exporter, which reported net profits in the last two quarters, signaling a rebound for the U.S.-dependent outsourcing giant.