Bill Gates increases holding in G4S

BILL Gates has paid £16 million to raise his stake in G4S, the security giant that is looking to bounce back from a blunder over its staffing of the 2012 Olympics.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Cascade Investment, an asset management firm owned by the Microsoft co-founder, increased their combined holding in G4S to 3.2 per cent by acquiring six million shares.

Gates’s investments range from stakes in the Canadian National Railway Company to global drinks group Diageo and UK carpet retailer Carpetright. His foundation works to eradicate disease and poverty.

G4S’s reputation was hit after it failed to provide a promised 10,400 guards for the London Games.