Top 10 billionaires: Jeff Bezos boosts fortune by $13bn in one day
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos leads a list of the world’s top 10 billionaires after seeing his personal fortune jump $13bn (£10.2bn) yesterday, in what is believed to be the largest single-day individual wealth jump of all time.
Bezos’ net worth has swelled $74bn this year to $189.3bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
The Amazon boss saw his wealth surge as his company’s popularity exploded over lockdown.
His personal fortune now eclipses the market valuations of Exxon, Nike and McDonald’s, making him the richest person in the world.
The wealth hike comes after Amazon shares gained eight per cent yesterday, following upbeat data about online shopping trends, doubled with the potential for fresh or extended lockdowns across the world.
Amazon’s shares have now grown 73 per cent this year, but Bezos has warned it is not immune to the effects of coronavirus.
In May, the Amazon chief warned that the retailer might not secure a profit in the second quarter of this year, as the e-commerce giant spent billions ramping up warehouse capacity to meet demand and providing personal protective equipment to staff.
The company also offered a one-time Thank You bonus totalling over $500m (£394.2m) for its front-line employees and partners throughout June, which boils down to a payout of between $150 and $3,000 for each front-line worker.
Bezos is Amazon’s main shareholder, and owns around 11 per cent of the company’s stock, acting as the main propeller for his personal fortune. The company’s valuation now sits at about $1.59trn, making it the most valuable retailer in the world.
Amazon now makes up 39 per cent of all e-commerce real sales in the US, and five per cent of all retail sales altogether.
Bloomberg Billionaires Index Top 10
| Billionaire | Personal wealth | Year to date wealth change |
| 1. Jeff Bezos | $189bn | +$74.4bn |
| 2. Bill Gates | $118bn | +$4.83bn |
| 3. Bernard Arnault | $94.7bn | -$10.6bn |
| 4. Mark Zuckerberg | $93.1bn | +$14.8bn |
| 5. Steve Ballmer | $76.1bn | +$18.0bn |
| 6. Elon R Musk | $74.5bn | +$46.9bn |
| 7. Larry Page | $73.8bn | +$9.1bn |
| 8. Mukesh Ambani | $72.1bn | +$13.5bn |
| 9. Warren Buffett | $72.1bn | -$17.2bn |
| 10. Sergey Brin | $71.5bn | +$8.77bn |
Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife now world’s 13th richest person
Mackenzie Bezos, the Amazon founder’s ex-wife, gained $4.6bn yesterday and is now the 13th-richest person in the world.
The couple’s high-profile divorce last year catapulted her position to the fourth-richest woman in the world, after her former husband handed her a four per cent share in Amazon that wiped $38bn off his personal fortune.
Tesla founder Elon Musk also added $74bn to his personal wealth yesterday, meaning he is now the fifth-richest person on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Other tech giants also calcified their position on the list of the world’s richest people, with Microsoft founder Bill Gates coming in at second with $118bn. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg followed in fourth place with $93.1bn to his name, after adding $15bn to his fortune over the year.
Zoom founder Eric Yuan saw his wealth increase tenfold over the year to $13bn, after demand for the video conferencing app shot through the roof during the pandemic.
Zoom broke social media platform Tiktok’s record for the most ever downloads on Apple’s app store last quarter, after it was downloaded 94m times from April to June — 40 per cent more than TikTok’s previous record of 67m downloads. The surge added $10bn over the year to Yuang’s personal wealth.