Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has become the first man in the world to amass a fortune of $200 billion. He crossed the milestone after a sharp surge in US technology stocks. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos’ net worth now stands at $202 billion after an increase of $5.22 billion in a single day.
It is quite a feat amid a pandemic that has hurt businesses and economies alike. While most billionaires have seen a decline in their wealth due to the COVID-19 Pandemic that has hit economies across the globe. Bezos’ net worth has surged over $87 billion due to rising preference for online shopping among customers.
As per the Forbes report, Amazon’s CEO’s worth is $204.6 billion as of August 27. He is $90 billion richer than Bill Gates, who is the world’s second-richest person. Gates is currently worth $116.1 billion.
Forbes added that Bezos would have hit the $200 billion mark earlier had he not gone through the world’s biggest divorce settlement in 2019. Bezos gave his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott 25% of his Amazon stake. It is at present worth $63 billion. It makes Scott the world’s 14th richest person and second-richest woman.
Standing third on the list is Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg with a net worth of $115 billion. The surge in US stocks also helped Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk join the centibillionaire club. His net worth now stands at $101 billion. Next on the list are French billionaire Bernard Arnault, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
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