Bill Gates to become world’s first trillionaire – when he is 86

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be world's first trillionaire in the next 25 years, according research firm Oxfam International. Gates would then be around 86 years old.

A report by Oxfam said that considering that Bill Gates' fortune is growing at 11 per cent per year since 2009, he could become the world's first trillionaire soon.

When Gates left Microsoft in 2006, his net worth was $50 billion, according to Oxfam. By 2016, his wealth had increased to $75 billion, "despite his commendable attempts to give it away through his Foundation", the report said.

In addition to the charitable work Gates does through his personal foundation, he is one of the founding members of The Giving Pledge, a commitment from some of the richest individuals in the world to give away more than half of their worth.

For the hypothetical analysis, Oxfam researchers applied the rate of growth Gates has been enjoying, 11 per cent per year since 2009, to his current levels of wealth (over $84 billion, according to Forbes).

"In such an environment, if you are already rich, you have to try hard not to keep getting a lot richer," Oxfam noted.

Another report by Oxfam had found that eight billionaires, including Bill Gates, from around the globe have as much money as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world's population.

As per the report, the eight billionaires, according to the Forbes billionaires list published in March 2016, are Warren Buffett, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, Carlos Slim, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Oracle's Larry Ellison (See: World's 8 richest men own as much as poorest half, WEF told).