Bill Gates is still the best man to call if you are short of cash, despite tough competition from Larry Ellison.

Gates hung on to the title of "World's Richest Man" by the skin of his teeth this year, according to the annual list of the "Worlds Working Rich" from Forbes Magazine. Forbes estimates wealth on the basis of share prices and foreign exchange rates as of May 22.

Ellison smashed his way up from 30th to second place as his personal fortune skyrocketed this year from $9.5 billion to a massive $47 billion. The 500 per cent increase in the value of Oracle stock accounts for this vast leap, and even put him ahead of Gates earlier this year, while Microsoft's shares were suffering from Anti-trust fever.

Paul Allen, Microsoft's co-founder finishes in joint third place, tied on $28 billion with former second ranker, Warren Buffet.

The magazine, which published the list yesterday, also compiled a list of the world's richest Kings Queens and Dictators. The news is that it pays better to run Software monopolies/dictatorships (delete as appropriate) than it does to be a political dictator or Royalty. The Queen is worth a measly $450 million. Get coding Liz.®