Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates' former assistant is now the fifth richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. With an estimated fortune of $117 billion, Steve Ballmer is just one spot behind Mr Gates on the real-time list of the world's richest person. He is currently richer than Larry Ellison ($114 billion), Warren Buffet ($113 billion), and Mark Zuckerberg ($110 billion), the index shows. Meanwhile, Bill Gates' fortune stands at $122 billion. 

According to CNN, Mr Ballmer joined Microsoft as its 24th employee in 1980. He has seen his wealth balloon over the past year to reach $117 billion, as per Bloomberg's data. His fortune now puts him in fifth place, and his wealth since the beginning of the year has surged by more than $30 billion, the outlet reported. 

Ahead of Mr Ballmer are Elon Musk ($193 billion), Bernard Arnault ($156 billion), Jeff Bezos ($156 billion) and Bill Gates ($122 billion). Notably, he is unique among the top-10 cohort as he is the only non-founder of a major business empire. 

As per CNN, Mr Ballmer attended Harvard University, where he met Mr Gates. He graduated in 1977 with degrees in applied mathematics and economics. Mr Ballmer began his career at Microsoft as an assistant to the president some four decades ago. He then rose through the ranks to eventually become its president and then CEO, succeeding Mr Gates. Mr Ballmer stepped down as CEO in 2014 and the same year he bought the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. 

However, much of Mr Ballmer's wealth still remains tied up in Microsoft stock. According to Bloomberg, he still owns a roughly 4% stake in the company.

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Meanwhile, speaking about Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, Elon Musk has lost $41 billion for the first time since June. According to the report, Mr Musk's net worth dropped to $193 billion. Notably, Mr Musk, who is the richest person in the world, owns 13% of Tesla and derives the majority of his wealth from the auto company. Bloomberg's Billionaire Index report said that Mr Musk has lost $41 billion since Tesla's October 18 earnings call. The report says that Mr Musk's was $234 billion before the company's disappointing third-quarter results.