Jeff Bezos Becomes The First Person Ever Worth $200 Billion

Published 4 years ago
Amazon CEO And Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos  Speaks At Air Force Association Air, Space And Cyber Conference

The world’s richest person, Jeff Bezos, is wealthier than he’s ever been. Early Wednesday he crossed a milestone previously unseen in the nearly four decades Forbes has been tracking net worths: With Amazon stock edging up 2% as of Wednesday afternoon, Bezos’ net worth is up by $4.9 billion, making the 56-year-old the world’s first-ever person to amass a $200 billion fortune.

As of 1:50 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, the Amazon founder and CEO is worth $204.6 billion—nearly $90 billion more than the world’s second-richest person, Bill Gates, who’s currently worth $116.1 billion. 

Even adjusting for inflation, Forbes believes Bezos’ fortune is the largest ever amassed. The person to come closest is Gates, who was the world’s first-ever centibillionaire. Near the height of the dot-com bubble, when Microsoft reached its then-peak in 1999, Gates’ net worth surpassed $100 billion, roughly $158 billion in today’s dollars.

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Fueled by the change in consumer habits as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon stock is up nearly 80% since the beginning of the year, and Bezos’ net worth, which was roughly $115 billion on January 1, has skyrocketed in tandem. Bezos’ roughly 11% stake in Amazon makes up more than 90% of his fortune. He also owns the Washington Post, aerospace company Blue Origin and other private investments.

Bezos would be even richer had he not gone through the most expensive divorce settlement in history last year. When he split from ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, last July, he agreed to give her 25% of his Amazon stake, a chunk of stock now worth $63 billion. Even after giving away $1.7 billion in charitable gifts earlier this year, Scott is currently the world’s 14th-richest person and second-richest woman, behind L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers

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Bezos isn’t alone among tech titans with fortunes surging to massive new heights. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg ended Tuesday as a brand-new centibillionaire, worth $103.1 billion after adding $3.4 billion to his fortune in one day, on Facebook stock gains. That surge continued early Wednesday afternoon, with Zuckerberg up an astonishing $6 billion just on Wednesday as of publication time. He’s now worth $109.1 billion.

There are now more centibillionaires on the planet than ever. Joining Bezos, Gates and the newly crowned Zuckerberg is LVMH chair Bernard Arnault, who first joined the 12-figure ranks last year. Though his net worth slipped to about $80 billion at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Arnault reclaimed the centibillionaire title in May and today is worth about $115 billion. This makes him the third-richest person on earth–$90 billion poorer than Jeff Bezos.

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Update 8/26/2020, 6:05 p.m.: A regulatory filing made public late Wednesday revealed that Bezos donated 7,548 Amazon shares–worth about $26 million–to an undisclosed nonprofit organization. At market close on Wednesday, Bezos was worth $205 billion.

-Jonathan Ponciano, Forbes Staff

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African Billionaires in 2025

Click on a billionaire to view their profile

RANK: 1
Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote
NET WORTH: $23.9 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Nigeria
RANK: 2
Johann Rupert & family
Johann Rupert & family
NET WORTH: $14 BTREND:
COUNTRY: South Africa
RANK: 3
Nicky Oppenheimer & family
Nicky Oppenheimer & family
NET WORTH: $10.4 BTREND:
COUNTRY: South Africa
RANK: 4
Nassef Sawiris
Nassef Sawiris
NET WORTH: $9.6 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Egypt
RANK: 5
Mike Adenuga
Mike Adenuga
NET WORTH: $6.8 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Nigeria
RANK: 6
Abdulsamad Rabiu
Abdulsamad Rabiu
NET WORTH: $5.1 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Nigeria
RANK: 7
Naguib Sawiris
Naguib Sawiris
NET WORTH: $5 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Egypt
RANK: 8
Koos Bekker
Koos Bekker
NET WORTH: $3.4 BTREND:
COUNTRY: South Africa
RANK: 8
Mohamed Mansour
Mohamed Mansour
NET WORTH: $3.4 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Egypt
RANK: 10
Patrice Motsepe
Patrice Motsepe
NET WORTH: $3 BTREND:
COUNTRY: South Africa
RANK: 10
Issad Rebrab & family
Issad Rebrab & family
NET WORTH: $3 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Algeria
RANK: 12
Mohammed Dewji
Mohammed Dewji
NET WORTH: $2.2 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Tanzania
RANK: 12
Michiel Le Roux
Michiel Le Roux
NET WORTH: $2.2 BTREND:
COUNTRY: South Africa
RANK: 14
Othman Benjelloun & family
Othman Benjelloun & family
NET WORTH: $1.6 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Morocco
RANK: 14
Anas Sefrioui & family
Anas Sefrioui & family
NET WORTH: $1.6 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Morocco
RANK: 16
Aziz Akhannouch & family
Aziz Akhannouch & family
NET WORTH: $1.5 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Morocco
RANK: 16
Femi Otedola
Femi Otedola
NET WORTH: $1.5 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Nigeria
RANK: 16
Christoffel Wiese
Christoffel Wiese
NET WORTH: $1.5 BTREND:
COUNTRY: South Africa
RANK: 20
Youssef Mansour
Youssef Mansour
NET WORTH: $1.4 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Egypt
RANK: 21
Yasseen Mansour
Yasseen Mansour
NET WORTH: $1.2 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Egypt
RANK: 21
Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa
NET WORTH: $1.2 BTREND:
COUNTRY: Zimbabwe