Amazon's Jeff Bezos is now the richest person in the world
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder Bill Gates officially got the memo on Monday that he is no longer the richest person in the world. Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) chief executive Jeff Bezos now holds the title, with a net worth of $105 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
But Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant in his garage is the early 1990s, is not only the wealthiest individual in the world—he is one of the richest in history. According to multiple reports, John D. Rockefeller was the richest ever, with a net worth of an estimated $340 billion (inflation-adjusted) in 1937.
Bezos' bump to the top spot happened Monday when his net worth added about $1.4 billion after Amazon’s stock rose 1.4%—Bezos owns nearly 80 million shares worth. Amazon shares were up another 1.44% in premarket trading on Tuesday. Overall in 2017, the company’s stock rose nearly 56%.
However, this isn’t the first time Bezos grabbed the title of the world’s richest person. In July, he briefly passed Gates, who has held the title for nearly two decades, according to Forbes. As of Tuesday morning, Gates’ net worth, according to Bloomberg, is around $93.3 billion, with Warren Buffett coming in third at $87.2 billion. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Zara’s co-founder Amancio Ortega Gaona come in fourth and fifth, with $77.5 billion and $76 billion, respectively.
