Does Bill Gates Becoming #3 in Wealth Signal Beginning of the End for Microsoft?

Even though we've known it was coming, I was still surprised when I read this afternoon that Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft and formerly richest man in the world, had dropped to number three in the world.

I was expecting him to drop to second, behind Carlos Slim. But... Carlos Slim isn't even the richest person in the world. Warren Buffett, long-time friend of Bill Gates and richest man prior to Bill Gates' reign, is now the richest man in the world again.

I'm wondering if this signals the beginning of the end for Microsoft. Its dominance has come as its leader is the richest man in the world. It's dominance is starting to fade to Apple, Adobe, Google, open source, and Linux in really unprecidented numbers for the company, and its leader didn't only drop one place - he dropped two places in Forbes' world's richest man list.

I think the connection is there and is very clear. This could be the real "beginning of the end" of Microsoft's dominance.