Jeff Bezos Overtakes Bill Gates, Becomes World’s Richest Person

Founder and CEO of internet giant Amazon, Jeff Bezos has just overtaken Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world, after his company’s stock price rose 1.8 percent to $1,071.

Prior to now, Gates has held the throne since May 2013, but is now in second place with a net worth of $90.7 billion, just short of Bezos’ $90.9 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

In a Bloomberg report, financial analyst Michael Pachter indicated the rise in share price might be because of the increasing number of customers signing up for Amazon Prime. He says people that who get the $99 yearly membership end up shopping 10 percent less in retail stores. According to Pachter, that trend is only expected to grow even more as Amazon’s offerings become more diverse with time.

STILL LAUGHING HARD, JEFF BEZOS, THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD (REUTERS)

It’s quite a jump for Bezos. Last July, Jeff Bezos ranked 3rd richest In the world with a personal wealth of $65.3 billion, when Bill Gates was at the No. 1 spot, sitting pretty with a net worth of $77.7 billion. Then earlier this year in March, Jeff Bezos climbed up to the 2nd richest person in the world spot with a net worth of $75.6 billion, while Bill Gates’ valuation stood somewhere around the $86 billion mark.

And now, finally, the Amazon founder can proudly call himself the richest man in the world.

We say congratulations. Innovation truly pays.