Jeff Bezos’ fortune reached $211 billion, the highest ever

Bezos, the richest billionaire on the planet, hit a net worth of $211 billion on July 6, as Amazon shares rose 4.7%. Investors bought Amazon shares strongly after the US Department of Defense announced it would cancel the cloud computing contract with Microsoft – Amazon’s “rival” in this field.

Such a stock surge has boosted Bezos’ net worth by $8.4 billion in just 24 hours, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The last time a person in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index came close to that level of wealth was in January, when the fortune of Elon Musk – CEO of electric car company Tesla – briefly hit the $210 billion mark.

Earlier this year, Bezos and Musk took turns as the world’s richest person. However, from mid-March onwards, Bezos cemented the No. 1 position thanks to Amazon’s stock price which has increased about 20% since then.

The dizzying share price increase in recent months has boosted the net worth of a group of tech billionaires including Musk. At the moment, Musk holds the position of the second-richest person in the world after Bezos, with a net worth of $ 180.8 billion despite the price of Tesla shares falling nearly 2.9% in the session on July 6. .

The third place belongs to the French luxury brand billionaire Bernard Arnault, who has $ 168.5 billion.

Bezos’ wealth accumulation this year is even stronger than in 2020, when his fortune skyrocketed thanks to the booming Amazon stock price due to the Covid-19 pandemic fueling the trend of online shopping. line.

This week, the 57-year-old billionaire stepped down as CEO of Amazon after 27 years running the company. He still holds a roughly 11% stake in Amazon and serves as Executive Chairman.

The Pentagon on July 6 announced it was withdrawing a $10 billion cloud computing contract awarded to Microsoft in 2019. The reason for this move was the controversy between the US government and some technology companies. among the largest in the US in recent years in terms of contracts. The decision is a sign that the Pentagon may be splitting the contract between Microsoft and Amazon.

MacKenzie Scott, Bezos’ ex-wife and the world’s 15th richest person, saw her personal net worth increase by $2.9 billion on July 6. This added fortune far exceeds the $2.7 billion she has given away to charity this year.

This reflects the fact that some billionaires can’t give to charity faster than they grow their fortunes.