The world’s richest man became even richer on Wednesday and set a new record thanks to the continued success of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN stock.
What Happened: Forbes reports that Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is now worth about $204.68 billion, gaining $4.9 billion earlier in the day. He became the first to hit the $200 billion wealth amount.
Forbes has tracked the wealth of individuals for four decades and believes this is a record even with inflation.
Amazon shares have climbed 81% in 2020, closing Wednesday at $3,441.85. Bezos gets 90% of his tracked net wealth from his 11% stake in Amazon shares. He also owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin.
See Also: Why Bezos Selling $3B In Amazon Shares Is Anything But Earth-Shaking
Last year, Bezos was part of the largest divorce settlement in history when he separated with wife MacKenzie Scott. Bezos gave 25% of his AMZN shares to Scott. That stake is now worth $63 billion. Scott has given away $1.7 billion of her shares, but remains the second richest woman in the world and 14th richest person.
Big Boys Club: Microsoft Corporation MSFT founder Bill Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999. With inflation, Forbes believes that would be worth $158 billion today. Gates is the second richest man in the world with a wealth of $116.1 billion.
Facebook Inc FB founder Mark Zuckerberg became a brand new centibillionaire on Tuesday hitting a wealth of $103.1 billion.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.