Despite the pain and suffering caused by the coronavirus pandemic on the world's economies, Jeff Bezos seems unfazed. In fact -- and ironically enough - his fortune only grew as everyone else tries to make sense of the crisis: The business mogul has established a new record for becoming the wealthiest man in history.
Based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos is now valued at around $172 billion. His wealth is directly linked to the success of Amazon, where the business has been on a roll as a result of increased demand for online shopping during large-scale lockdowns. Bezos owns 57 million shares in Amazon, roughly 12 percent of its size.
Just this week, Bezos broke his own previous fortune's record that he gained before he divorced his former wife, MacKenzie. The couple split after 25 years of marriage, last year. MacKenzie received a quarter of the couple's Amazon stock, which equates to around 4 percent of shares in the company.
MacKenzie's fortune has also hit a milestone: She is now valued at about $57 billion, making her the world's 12th wealthiest person. Her fortune ballooned 55 percent year to date, or a spike of almost $20 billion, based on Bloomberg's computation.
Bezos is the founder of Amazon, the biggest online retail company on the planet. The Seattle-headquartered group sells books, household products, and other goods through its flagship website. Amazon also controls the Whole Foods grocery chain and offers video streaming services and Cloud computing.
Amazon has proved itself as a major lifeline during the global health crisis, providing groceries and other essential items to people stuck at home as brick-and-mortar stores either shuttered or faced long queues as lockdowns overtook the US this year. The retail empire has hired an extra 175,000 staff to cope with growing demand. It posted $281 billion in sales last year.
Other tech top honchos have seen their fortune balloon even in the midst of the pandemic that has caused millions of people to lose their jobs. The combined wealth of America's wealthy people, including Bezos and Tesla Inc's chief executive Elon Musk, rose more than 10 percent during the pandemic, data released by the Institute for Policy Studies, showed.
Amazon disclosed that it plans to spend around $4 billion in the second quarter this year on pandemic initiatives, including safety measures and pay for employees on the frontlines. The retail giant announced last week that it would pay $500 million worth of one-time bonuses to delivery and plant personnel. Amazon said it has made over 150 process changes to protect its people.
