Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has become the world’s first person with a net worth of over $200 billion, according to Forbes and Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The net worth of the world's richest person went up by $4.9 billion after Amazon stock edged up 2% as of Wednesday afternoon, Forbes reported.
Bezos also owns aerospace company Blue Origin, the Washington Post and other private investments.
However, his nearly 11% stake in Amazon makes up over 90% of his massive fortune.
As per Forbes, Bezos’ net worth is the highest ever accumulated by a single person in history after adjusting for inflation.
The e-commerce giant saw a huge spike in demands for its services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the beginning of 2020, Amazon stock is up nearly 80%, said the Forbes report, adding that Bezos' net worth on January 1 was roughly $115 billion.
While Forbes said that Bezos became worth $204.6 billion at 1.50 pm EDT on Wednesday, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index currently puts his net worth at $202 billion.
While the coronavirus pandemic has seen most billionaires’ wealth eroding this year, Bezos’ personal wealth has spiked over $87 billion due to the rising trend of online shopping among customers.
As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos’ fortune is equivalent to 3.02% of the total wealth of the 500 richest people in the world.
The person who is closest to Bezos now is Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates who is currently worth $116.1 billion, according to Forbes, while the Bloomberg Billionaires Index put his net worth at $124 billion.
Meanwhile, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth increased to $115 billion as his wealth rose by a whopping $8.49 billion on a single day.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also entered the centibillionaires club with his net worth climbing to $101 billion on the back of a strong rally in US stocks.
With IANS inputs