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Bill Gates Became $2 Billion Richer Today The fourth richest man in the world had a banner day on Wall Street as Microsoft's shares surged.

By Jonathan Small

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

How's this for passive income? Bill Gates, who is already worth $122 billion, raked in $2 billion today just for watching Microsoft's stock soar 7.2% in a Wednesday rally.

Marketwatch reports that Gates had a banner day on Wall Street, as Microsoft's shares increased by $19.95 to $295.37, the company's largest single-day gain in 52 weeks. Gates is Microsoft's largest investor, owning around 103 million shares, which adds up to a little over 1% of the company. Not too shabby — considering Microsoft has a market cap of $2.2 trillion.

Financial analysts said Microsoft benefited today from better-than-average quarterly earnings. Wall Street is also enthusiastic about its AI offerings.

Today's news was not only good for Gates but for investors in general, as Wall Street rallied from its worst day in a month.

Still, Gates will need quite a few more days like this before he even gets close to the world's richest man Bernard Arnault, who is worth over $200 billion.

Related: 'The Age of AI Has Begun': Bill Gates Says This 'Revolutionary' Tech Is the Biggest Innovation Since the User-Friendly Computer

Jonathan Small

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® VIP

Founder, Write About Now Media

Jonathan Small is an award-winning author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. For 25 years, he has worked as a sought-after storyteller for top media companies such as The New York Times, Hearst, Entrepreneur, and Condé Nast. He has held executive roles at Glamour, Fitness, and Entrepreneur and regularly contributes to The New York Times, TV Guide, Cosmo, Details, Maxim, and Good Housekeeping. He is the former “Jake” advice columnist for Glamour magazine and the “Guy Guru” at Cosmo.

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