Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates continues his reign as the richest technocrat, but longtime rival Larry Ellison is close on Gates' heels, according to the newest rankings from Forbes. Gates has a net worth of $54.4 billion, or $38.3 billion less than in November 1999. No. 2 Ellison, chief executive of database giant Oracle, is worth $42.1 billion. The gap between Gates and Ellison is $12.3 billion, compared with $80.3 billion in 1999. Other Microsoft techies dominated the top five: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is worth $24.4 billion, and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is worth $15.3 billion. Intel co-founder Gordon Moore is worth $13.2 billion.
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