Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been named as richest person of all-time, after his net worth reached a dizzying $105.1 billion (£77.75bn).
Bezos’ vast wealth has been gained from his 78.9 million shares of Amazon stock, which climbed by 1.4% yesterday earning him around $1.4 billion. This follows a year-long surge that lifted the e-commerce site’s market value by nearly 57 per cent.
The news was announced by Bloomberg’s billionaire tracker, although Forbes put his net worth at closer to a paltry $104.4 billion.
Bezos, 53, who also has holdings in the Washington Post and private space travel business Blue Origin, has beaten the thirteen figure high achieved by Bill Gates in 1999.
Gates, it should be said, would have a higher net worth than Bezos if he’d held onto assets that he gave away to charity through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He’s given away 700 million Microsoft shares and $2.9 billion in cash over the years.
