$200bn and counting; Amazon CEO creates history in personal wealth

In the midst of a pandemic that has devastated companies and economies alike, eCommerce giant, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos became the first person ever to reach a net worth of $200 billion.

Because of the novel corona virus outbreak, the e-commerce platform stocks continued to skyrocket, as people who are forced to stay indoors continued to depend on online shopping for their basic requirements.

According to sources, Amazon’s share rose 2% which created a $4.9 billion rise making the 56-year old the first businessman around the globe to set foot on the fortune of $200 billion wealth.

The Amazon founder’s wealth is mostly in the Amazon Stock which saw a drastic hike in recent years making him the richest man with nearly $90 billion more than Bill Gates, the second richest man with a net worth of $116.1 billion.

Bezos’ net worth is more than Nike, McDonald’s and Pepsi, as all three companies are valued between $139 billion and $191 billion.

The stock price of this tech multinational company increased nearly 80% since the beginning of the year as the pandemic created a major change in consumer habits. According to report the net worth of Amazon on January 1 this year was around $115 billion.

Experts say Bezos would have achieved this milestone much before if he had not gone through the most expensive divorce settlement of the recent history.

Last July, he got separated from MacKenzie Scott and as settlement transferred 25% of his Amazon stake, which has a current net worth of $63 billion.

MacKenzie Scott is currently the 14th richest person and second-richest woman in the world.

The tech titan Bezos is not alone in the centibillionaire (one who has a wealth of $100 billion) chair, recently Facebook’s Mark Zurkerberg ended with a worth of $103.1 billion becoming a brand new centibillionaire, while Tesla CEO, Elon Musk grabbed the spot for the fourth richest man in the world.