Jeff Bezos Is Now the Richest Person in the World
Amazon cannot and will not be stopped.
Jeff Bezos has just surpassed Bill Gates as the richest man in the world with a net worth of $90.9 billion USD thanks to a surge in Amazon’s stock this morning. Gates, with a net worth of $90.7 billion USD, has held the number one spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for over four years, since May of 2013. Starting the year as the world’s fourth wealthiest person, Jeff has also leaped over Warren Buffett and Amancio Ortega. Bezos’s success is directly connected to Amazon, of which he owns 17%. With the Seattle-based company upsurging 40% so far this year as of yesterday, it’s added $24.5 billion USD to his net worth.
Amazon’s success this year has been a result of it acquiring Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion USD and its new direct selling partnership with Nike. However, investors believe that Amazon Prime and Amazon Web Services — which caused internet mayhem in March with a typo — are also key to the continued success of the company. “Amazon Prime is why so much physical retail is going away. Anyone who joins Prime shops in retail stores 10% less, and that number will keep accelerating as Amazon adds more inventory,” said Wedbush Securities Inc. analyst Michael Pachter. According to 34 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, Amazon is expected to post quarterly revenue of $37.2 billion USD, a 22% leap from last year.
What can’t Jeff Bezos do? Take a look at the progression of wealth between him and Gates below.
