Jeff Bezos isn’t just CEO of one of the world’s most popular technology companies. He’s also the newly crowned Richest Person in the World. That is, as long as today’s Amazon shares don’t take a plunge.
Thanks to a 1.8 percent increase in Amazon stock value this morning, Jeff Bezos may have just edged out Bill Gates as the world’s richest person. Bill Gates has held that top spot since May 2013. Both Gates and Bezos have a net worth right around $90 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Gates’ net worth has held relatively steady, increasing slightly over the past few years. Bezos’ value, by contrast, seems to have skyrocketed since late 2014.
The two technology titans aren’t strangers. They share a number of passions, such as addressing climate change. They’ve even worked together on endeavors such as the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, an organization dedicated to helping the world achieve a “zero emissions energy future.”
Bezos is also one of a number of tech CEOs (such as Apple’s Tim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg) who’ve consulted with the Trump administration. Recently, he traveled to Washington to meet with the recently formed American Technology Council, to help modernize our government.
Rounding out the list of world’s richest people, Americans Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg are numbers four and five on Bloomberg’s list. Buffett has a $74.5 billion market value, while Zuck clocks in slightly below that at $70.5 billion.
With Bezos and Gates being so close, we’re likely to see the two leap frog each other over the coming months. However, if Bezos’ trajectory continues like it has, he will eventually leave Gates in the dust.
Update 4:12pm CT: As predicted, a slight adjustment in the stock market Thursday afternoon has now dropped Bezos out of the top spot.
H/T Bloomberg