And finally…the great Gates giveaway continues but top stop is still his

Bill Gates is still the world’s richest person, despite giving away £3.6 billion of his fortune to charity this week.

In his largest donation since 2000, the Microsoft founder donated 64 million shares in the firm to an as yet unknown beneficiary.

It is the equivalent to 5 per cent of his total fortune, currently estimated to be $89.9 billion.

Mr Gates has previously given away $16 billion in Microsoft shares in 1999 and $5.1 billion in 2000.

His latest giveaway, which was made in June but became public this week following the filing of a document with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, now leaves his stake in the tech giant at just 1.3 per cent.

Since 1994 Mr Gates, 61, and his wife Melinda have given away a total of $35bn in cash and stocks to a range of charitable causes.

The majority of all previous donations have been made to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is primarily focused on reducing world poverty, combating infectious diseases and providing universal access to computers.

It is not known who the recipient of this latest donation is, however, when federal documents are filed it usually means new money is being given to a foundation, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

In 2010, Mr and Mrs Gates and the well-known investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett created the Giving Pledge, and as of May 2017, 158 individuals or couples have agreed to contribute at least half of their wealth to charity.