For the second year in a row, Bill Gates tops the exclusive 2009 Forbes 400, the yearly list of the richest people in America. However, it's the first time in seven years that the rich got poorer. Not in the sense of the average guy getting by, but they didn't gain income as is usually the case. Bill Gates lost $7 billion since September 2008 and now has a net worth of $50 billion.

The famous business magazine has released its annual Forbes Billionaires 2009 list, which is shrinking and naturally, reflecting the falling global economy.

The new Microsoft ads went live on Thursday. And at the start of each ad is Sean Siler, a Microsoft employee who, luckily for Microsoft bears some resemblance to John Hodgman, the PC in Apple's ads. In the first and third ads, he says "I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype. In the second ad he says, "I'm a PC, and I'm not alone."

It was all planned this way! Seriously. That's the spin Microsoft is giving, as it's been announced that the nearly universally panned Microsoft commercial series involving Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld is about to bite the dust.

Perhaps stung by the criticism of their first Seinfeld - Gates commercial, Microsoft on Thursday night showed off their second in the series during CBS' Big Brother. The ad was simultaneously uploaded to YouTube, and is titled "New Family -- Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates (Long Version)."

As you probably know, Microsoft has launched a series of high-profile ads, starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, hoping to re-energize the image of the corporation as a whole and Windows Vista in particular.

They are here. I wrote earlier about Microsoft's new ad campaign, scheduled to start on Sept. 4th and to feature Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. The first ad aired during the opening game of the NFL season between Washington and the New York Giants. It's titled "The future, delicious," but I have to say "yuck."

Bill Gates, the world's third richest man, officially stepped down Friday as head of the $40-billion Microsoft empire to concentrate on his charitable foundation.

U.S. financier Warren Buffet, 77, has overtaken his friend and partner in philanthropy, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires.

According to Forbes business magazine, Bill Gates has been replaced as the richest man in the world by the American investor Warren Buffett.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the richest person in America for the 14th year in a row, followed by investor Warren Buffett, according to Forbes magazine's latest list of the wealthiest Americans.

The Sentido Comun Web site has voted Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim, 67, the world's richest person, with an estimated personal worth of $67.8 billion, the Libre Belgique online newspaper reported Wednesday.