Jeff Bezos’ net worth is now close to $172 billion hitting a new peak after he despite the current economic climate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To add on, Last year, Bezos, relinquished a quarter of his stake in Amazon.com Inc. as part of a divorce settlement last year. She received 25 per cent of the couple’s Amazon stock, which is roughly a 4 per cent stake in the company.
He has set a new record for the worlds richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
This year alone, he gained $56.7 billion. shares of the Seattle-based retailer surged 4.4 per cent to a record $2,878.70 Wednesday, boosting the founder’s world-leading fortune to $171.6 billion. That tops his previous high of $167.7 billion, set on Sept. 4, 2018.
Bezos’ company, which has faced criticism for employee safety and pay, Amazon said it would spend about $500 million to give one-time bonuses to most front-line workers. as a “Thank You bonus”. The move comes after the company eliminated a $2 hourly wage bump and double overtime pay for frontline workers at the end of May.Other billionaires with biggest gains this year include Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, who added $25.8 billion to his fortune since Jan. 1, and Zoom Video Communications Inc. founder Eric Yuan, whose wealth has almost quadrupled to $13.1 billion.
Mackenzie Bezos, who acquired a 4% stake in Amazon after the couple split, has a net worth of $56.9 billion and climbed to No. 12 in Bloomberg’s ranking. She has surpassed Alice Walton and Julia Flesher Koch to become the world’s second-wealthiest woman after L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers.