Amazon Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos became $13 billion richer on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index – the biggest one-day gain in the net value of an individual that the BBI has ever recorded since it was formed in 2012.
Already super-rich, Bezos broke his own record for being the wealthiest man alive by adding that much cash and is now valued at a mind-numbing $189 billion.
As Amazon capitalizes on the ongoing global health nightmare, analysts said that with the amount of money its founder has, he could actually buy the four biggest banks in the United Kingdom.
But the humongous growth in business for Amazon has been accompanied by criticism and regulatory scrutiny over a reported lack of protection provided to workers who are vulnerable during the crisis.
Amazon's shares spiked nearly 8 percent, the highest since December 2018, on growing optimism on online shopping trends, and are currently up over 70 percent for the year. As the U.S. economy plunges as a result of the pandemic, the brains behind the online shopping empire have gained $74 billion this year.
The 56-year-old tycoon has seen his wealth balloon despite the U.S. experiencing its worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression. Bezos is now valued at more than the market cap of corporate behemoths like Exxon Mobil, Nike, and McDonald's.
Bezos founded Amazon in 1995 and the group has now grown to be "one of the most valuable, powerful companies on the planet," Business Insider previously said. Business Insider also disclosed that Bezos is on course to become the world's first trillionaire by 2026.
Jeff's former wife, Mackenzie, also saw an increase of $4.6 billion in her net value on the same day, making her the 13th wealthiest person on the planet.
Amazon's shares soared after a Goldman Sachs analyst upgraded the company's share price target to $3,800. Online shopping is also witnessing a robust trend, Bloomberg said.
The massive increase in Bezos's fortune on Monday alone is equivalent to adding almost 30 times Queen Elizabeth's 350 million pound fortune. His total value now makes him worth more than the largest company in Britain, the biotech group AstraZeneca, which is worth 121 billion pounds on the stock exchange.
Bezos, who started Amazon in his garage in 1994, still holds an 11 percent share in the company. Bezos also owns the Washington Post.
