Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has surpassed clothing tycoon Amancio Ortega and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett to become the world’s second-richest person.
That is richest in terms of net worth, as each of Bezos’ shares in Amazon rose $18.32 yesterday, netting him $1.5bn after his company announced its plans to acquire Dubai-based e-retailer Souq. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos now has a net worth of $75.6bn, $700m more than Buffett and $1.3bn more than Ortega.
None, however, touches Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, with a net worth of $86bn.
The world’s fifth richest person, Facebook’s 32-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, provides a wonderful bit of outlying data skewing the average age of the top ten with his net worth of $56bn at the last count by Forbes.
Bezos, 53, added $1.5 billion to his fortune as Amazon.com Inc. rose $18.32 on Wednesday, the day after the e-commerce giant said it plans to buy Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com. Bezos has a net worth of $75.6 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, $700 million more than Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Buffett and $1.3 billion above Ortega, the founder of Inditex S.A. and Europe’s richest person.
Amazon’s founder has added $10.2 billion this year to his wealth and $7 billion since the global equities rally began following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president on Nov. 8. The rise is the third biggest on the Bloomberg index in 2017, after Chinese parcel-delivery billionaire Wang Wei’s $18.4 billion gain and an $11.4 billion rise for Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Buffett, who’s added $1.7 billion in 2017, has shed $4.7 billion since his fortune peaked at $79.6 billion on March 1. Ortega is up $2.1 billion year-to-date. Bezos remains $10.4 billion behind Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the world’s richest person with $86 billion.
