Amazon’s chief executive Jeff Bezos’ personal wealth has hit an all time high of $171.6 billion as shares in the company surge.
Amazon’s shares jumped over four per cent yesterday to hit a record high of $2878.7 per share, despite the US experiencing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, this means Bezos is now worth a $171.6 billion, comfortably surpassing his pre-divorce peak of $167.7 billion in 2018.
READ MORE: Could Jeff Bezos become the world’s first trillionaire?
This means he has gained just under $60 billion this year alone, thanks to his 11 per cent stake in the retail giant, which has seen a dramatic jump in sales during lockdown.
His ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos, who received a four per cent stake in the company when the couple divorced, has also seen her personal wealth grow to $56.9 billion making her the world’s 12th richest person, and second richest woman.
While the collective net worth of the worlds 500 richest people has growth from $5.91 trillion to $5.93 trillion since the start of the year, some retail billionaires have incurred staggering losses.
LVMH’s chief executive and chairman Bernard Arnault has seen his personal wealth divebomb $17.6 billion, while Zara’s owner Amancio Ortega has lost a whopping $19.2 billion.
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