he has other business ventures that can't be officially counted.  Also,
the stock of MIcrocrap has quadrupled in the last three years.

kelly



   Posted at 5:02 p.m. PDT Monday, April 20, 1998

Gates becomes first billionaire times 50

   The Seattle Times

   SEATTLE -- Bill Gates, 42, on Monday became the world's first $50
   billionaire, at least based on his Microsoft holdings.

   With 535.8 million shares, about a quarter of Microsoft, Gates needed
   a price exceeding $93.32 to reach $50 billion. The stock traded above
   $94 virtually all day and closed at $94.625, up $2.50.

   Last year, the Microsoft chief executive became the world's richest
   person when he passed the Sultan of Brunei.

   Gates, of course, has investments other than his Microsoft stock, but
   they pale in comparison.

   For example, as the No. 1 shareholder in Icos, a Bothell, Wash.,
   biotech, he owns 13 percent, or about $70 million worth of stock.

   Gates also is a significant investor in Teledesic, a developmental
   satellite system, and his Corbis photographic service. But neither is
   publicly traded.

   Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. First shares for the
   public were sold in 1986.

   To make the original $21 share comparable to today's price of more
   than $90, it would be adjusted by seven stock splits (five 2-for-1s
   and two 3-for-2s). That would make the original price 29 cents a
   share.

   Put another way, 100 shares purchased for the original $2,100 now
   equal 7,200 shares worth $681,130.

   Gates became a billionaire in 1987 and hit $40 billion last July.