SAN FRANCISCO: Amid the coronavirus pandemic which has affected businesses around the globe, Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has become the first individual whose net worth soared over $200 billion.
According to Forbes, the net worth of Bezos went up by $4.9 billion after Amazon's stock edged up two per cent as of Wednesday afternoon.
Bezos also owns aerospace company Blue Origin, the Washington Post and other private investments. However, his nearly 11 per cent stake in Amazon makes up over 90 per cent of his massive fortune.
The e-commerce giant saw a huge spike in demands for its services amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since the beginning of 2020, Amazon stock is up nearly 80 per cent, said the Forbes report, adding that Bezos' net worth on January 1 was roughly $115 billion.
While Forbes said that Bezos became worth $204.6 billion at 1.50 pm EDT on Wednesday, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index currently shows his net worth at $202 billion.
The person who is closest to Bezos now is Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates whose net worth currently is $116.1 billion, according to Forbes. However, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index put Gates' net worth at $124 billion.
Elon Musk, on the other hand, has become a centibillionaire. Tesla Inc. shares rallied on Wednesday, pushing his net worth to $101 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a listing of the world's 500 richest people.
Musk is now one of the 4 centibillionaires in the world. He has seen his fortune grow by $73.6 billion this year, a jump still smaller than Bezos's, who is up by $87.1 billion. Facebook Inc.'s Mark Zuckerberg's net worth topped $100 billion earlier this month. On Wednesday alone, it rose by $8.5 billion.
(With inputs from agencies)