Bill Gates, several others lose billions as Brexit unfolds

Bill Gates pictured immunizing children in Africa. His philanthropic work has helped provide essential vaccines to millions of Africa’s children

Bill Gates, the World’s richest person and one of the leading philanthropists for Uganda has lost over a billion dollars of his wealth following Thursday’s referendum in which most people voted to leave the European Union, Bloomberg.com has reported.

Gates, who is ranked top by Forbes magazine with about US$75bn, suffered the loss, along with several other very people across the world but mostly from Europe as investors sold their fortunes from companies with huge investments in the UK, but also due to a sharp fall in the value of the British Pound. Through his Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, the inventor of the world’s most used computer software windows, supports agricultural programmes in which Uganda is a beneficiary, that seek to raise food production in a bid to end hunger in Africa.

The Brexit, as it has been coined, and largely unexpected, has plunged the UK, Europe and the entire global economy into a sudden era of economic and political uncertainty and anxiety as many contemplate its full effects on their businesses as well as personal lives.

Amancio Ortega, who is Europe’s richest man suffered the biggest loss of US$6 billion of his estimated US$67bn worth due to the calamitous Brexit vote, according to bloomberg.com.

Bloomberg which keeps a close look at 400 richest people in the world, says that the elite class lost US$127.4 billion equivalent to 3.2 percent of their net worth.

The rich aside, many analysts have described the vote as a catastrophic incident with very few winners. For Uganda and much of Africa, the vote casts a dark shadow on the future of trade, travel and investments to the continent because of reduced openness, the decline in the value of the pound and UK’s ability to provide development assistance.

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