Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos saw his net worth balloon above $202 billion on Wednesday, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed, becoming the first person on the planet to have that kind of money.
Bezos is now richer than he has ever been. He made another achievement never before seen in the record books of well-known billionaire-tracking organizations like Forbes or Bloomberg.
The head-shaking growth in Bezos' wealth is propelled by his holdings in Amazon. Based on Refinitiv data, the multinational tech group is up 25 percent in the last quarter and over 85 percent this year.
Bezos' soaring net worth came as Amazon's stock price skyrocketed 2.3 percent to $3,423 a share, all courtesy of the ongoing global health crisis as people turned to online retailers to buy stuff after lockdowns shut brick and mortar stores and forced customers to work from home.
It's an irony, some analysts say, how one company – one person – can amass such humongous wealth when everyone else is suffering in this pandemic-crushed situation. Bezos' fortune is the largest ever earned even when adjusted for inflation, Forbes said.
Bezos first achieved the distinction of becoming the richest man alive in 2017. Last month, his estimated value soared to nearly $172 billion, registering a new global record.
As of Wednesday, Amazon is valued at over $1.7 trillion, making the company the second most valuable in the U.S., next to Apple. And Bezos is, at the moment, $78 billion wealthier than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who is in second spot with around $116 billion.
Bezos' approximately 11 percent ownership of Amazon comprises over 90 percent of his total wealth. The 56-year old entrepreneur and industrialist also owns space aviation group Blue Origin and The Washington Post, among many other companies.
It was possible that Bezos would have reached the $200 billion mark much earlier had he not parted ways with MacKenzie, who not long ago changed her surname to Scott after the famed divorce in 2019.
MacKenzie took a decent 4 percent stake in Amazon following the split with her husband, which entitled her to $37 billion. She currently ranks 13th on Bloomberg's billionaires' list, with a personal fortune of over $66 billion.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is now on course to becoming the first trillionaire on the planet.
