LONDON: Jeff Bezos has leapt past Amancio Ortega and Warren Buffett to become the world’s second-richest person.
Bezos, 53, added US$1.5 billion to his fortune as Amazon.com Inc rose US$18.32 on Wednesday, the day after the e-commerce giant said it plans to buy Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com.
Bezos has a net worth of US$75.6 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, US$700 million more than Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s Buffett and US$1.3 billion above Ortega, the founder of Inditex S.A. and Europe’s richest person.
Amazon’s founder has added US$10.2 billion this year to his wealth and US$7 billion since the global equities rally began following the election of Donald Trump as US president on Nov 8.
The rise is the third biggest on the Bloomberg index in 2017, after Chinese parcel-delivery billionaire Wang Wei’s US$18.4 billion gain and an US$11.4 billion rise for Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Buffett, who’s added US$1.7 billion in 2017, has shed US$4.7 billion since his fortune peaked at US$79.6 billion on March 1.
Ortega is up US$2.1 billion year-to-date.
Bezos remains $10.4 billion behind Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the world’s richest person with US$86 billion. - Bloomberg
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