Bloomberg: Microsoft's Gates, World's Richest Man, Bets Against the Dollar

Microsoft's Gates, World's Richest Man, Bets Against the Dollar

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Bill Gates, the world's richest person with a net worth of $46.6 billion, is betting against the U.S. dollar.

``I'm short the dollar,'' Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., told Charlie Rose in an interview in front of an audience of about 200 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ``The ol' dollar, it's gonna go down.''

Gates's comments reflect the same view as his friend Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who has bet against the currency since 2002. Buffett said last week that the country's trade gap will probably further weaken the dollar, which fell 21 percent against a basket of six major currencies between January 2002 and the end of last year.

``It is a bit scary,'' Gates said. ``We're in uncharted territory when the world's reserve currency has so much outstanding debt.''

The U.S. is borrowing to finance record budget and trade deficits. Total U.S. government debt stood at $7.62 trillion as of Jan. 27, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier.

Forbes magazine's list of billionaires ranks Gates, 49, No. 1. Buffett, 74, is second, with more than $30 billion. Almost all of it is in Berkshire stock.

The two have been friends for years, taking vacations together and playing online bridge. Gates in December joined the board of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the investment company that Buffett runs.

China `Change Agent'

The country is importing more than it exports, and the government is funding part of its budget deficit by selling bonds to foreign investors, Buffett said in an interview with CNBC Jan. 19.

``Unless we have a major change in trade policies, I don't see how the dollar avoids going down,'' Buffett said.

Gates described China as a potential ``change agent'' for the next two decades. ``It's phenomenal,'' Gates said. ``It's a brand new form of capitalism.''

His $27 billion foundation in September received approval from China's foreign-currency regulator to invest as much as $100 million in the nation's yuan shares and bonds.

Gates, holder of almost 1.1 billion Microsoft shares with a market value of about $29 billion, also owns about 3,580 Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway. His personal investment vehicle has reported holding $3 billion worth of stock in 14 companies, including cable provider Cox Communications Inc. and the Canadian National Railway Co.