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He's rich, but Gates isn't all that happy about it

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 5, 2006

Most people probably dream of being the world's richest person - except, perhaps, the man himself.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told an online advertising conference that he'd prefer not to be the richest person in the world.

"I wish I wasn't," he said in a session in which he was being interviewed by Donny Deutsch, the host of an interview show on CNBC.

Gates is ranked by Forbes magazine as the world's richest person, with an estimated wealth of about $50-billion.

"There's nothing good that comes out of that," he said. "You get more visibility as a result of it."

Gates is doing his part to share the wealth. His Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the world's largest philanthropy, with an endowment of $29.1-billion.

"I certainly will never be a politician," he said. "... I wouldn't like it, I wouldn't be elected."

Other chatter

NEW ORLEANS TO SHUT HOTELS DURING HURRICANES: This hurricane season, don't count on the city's hotels for "vertical evacuation" when a major storm makes a beeline for New Orleans. The hotels, often used as a hurricane haven in the past, will ban guests and employees from riding out the largest storms, said Bill Langkopp, executive vice president of the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association. "Bringing people into a hotel for safe harbor was okay pre-Katrina. It is no longer acceptable post-Katrina," said Langkopp, whose group surveyed its members on their storm plans.

STARBUCKS PLANS ONE NEW DRINK A SEASON: Starbucks Corp. CEO Jim Donald said the world's largest chain of coffee shops will introduce at least one new drink every season to attract consumers and increase sales. He said a new tropical-inspired drink will go on sale in two weeks. Starbucks' long-term plan is to triple its number of stores to 30,000. Donald is attracting new consumers by creating drinks such as green tea Frappuccino and marble mocha macchiato, and selling CDs and DVDs by artists such as children's singer Laurie Berkner to expand sales beyond coffee.

Newspaper for kids launches in Britain: Britain's newsstands will get a little more crowded today with the launch of a newspaper for kids, which will compete for attention alongside the nation's notorious tabloids and serious broadsheets. First News, a national weekly aimed at 9- to 12-year-olds, says it is Britain's first newspaper for children. The initial print run is pegged at 350,000 copies, with a cover price of 1 pound ($1.85).

Information from the Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this report.

[Last modified May 5, 2006, 08:31:11]