On Monday, 16 of July, the net worth of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, surpassed 151 bln USD. That was a new record high not just for Bezos, but also for all of the billionaires Forbes has tracked over past several decades – none of them has ever reached 151 bln USD.
At the end of the day, Bezos’s fortune diminished, this time hitting 149.7 bln USD.
Since the beginning of the year, Bezos’ fortune has increased up by more than $45 billion, including a nearly 11 bln USD climb in a little over a month. The Amazon founder owns 16% of the company’s shares. He’s sold several billion dollars worth of shares over the past few years and has used that money to fund his rocket company, Blue Origin.
Bill Gates, the number two richest on Forbes rankings, is worth about $56 billion less, or $93.6 billion. It should be noted that Gates has given more than $35 billion to charity. Gates’ record was registered in 1999, when his net worth hit $100 billion, which would be worth $151.2 billion today, in inflation-adjusted dollars.
Bezos first appeared on the Forbes list of America’s richest people a year before, in 1998. Back then his net worth was 1.6 bln USD.
Like Gates, Bezos also does charity: in early 2018, he Gave $33 Million to a Scholarship Fund for migrants.
