CEO Jeff Bezos is now worth more than $100 billion after Amazon’s shares surged during Black Friday, according to Bloomberg.
The business mogul took the title of world’s richest person in July when Amazon’s stocks increased 1.8 percent. That put him ahead of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who had held the position since May 2013. That same day, a slight dip in Amazon’s stocks pushed him back down to the second spot.
Now, as online shoppers gear up for the holidays with some sweet Black Friday deals, Bezos has regained the top spot and skyrocketed past the coveted $100 billion mark. He becomes the first person to reach that amount of wealth since Gates in 1999. Bezos’ fortune currently sits at $100.3 billion, up $2.4 billion following a 2 percent increase in Amazon’s shares.
Bezos’ unprecedented explosion in wealth is impressive, but somewhat damaged by his reputation for not giving to charity as much as his peers, like Gates and Warren Buffet. As Bloomberg points out, Gates, who currently has a net worth of $86.8 billion, would be worth more than $150 billion if he hadn’t given $700 million in Microsoft shares and $2.9 billion in cash to charity.
As holiday shopping dies down over the next few weeks, Bezos’ fortune could fluctuate to below the $100 billion mark. However, given the rate his net worth has increased over the past few years, it won’t be long before he finds more firm ground beyond the nearly inconceivable 12-figure value.
H/T Bloomberg
