At a net worth of $178 billion, Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of the 8th of July 2020, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest man alive. He is worth $178 billion.

He is followed in the second position by his fellow American, Bill Gates at $115 billion and French billionaire businessman and CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault with $91.8 billion.

Surpassing his previous high of $167.7 billion, Bezos has gained approximately $63.5 billion this year alone, largely due to the growth in his Amazon business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of his wealth is tied to Amazon, with him owning roughly 57 million shares, or 12%, of the company.

There has been a geometric increase in Amazon’s business as a result of worldwide lockdowns and the growing demand for online shopping.

His net worth declined temporarily when he split from his wife, MacKensie in a divorce settlement. MacKenzie acquired a 4% stake in Amazon. With $35 billion dollars after the divorce settlement, MacKenzie became the third wealthiest woman in the world. She is currently worth of $56.9 billion – making her 12th in Bloomberg’s ranking, and second wealthiest woman alive to L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers.

Amazon sells books, household goods and other products through its flagship website. It also controls the Whole Foods grocery chain and offers cloud computing and video streaming services. Amazon reported revenue of $281 billion in 2019.