Amazon owner Bezos creates history, 1st first person to be worth $200 billion

Hyderabad: While the Covid-19 pandemic has been crippling the global economy and pushing millions of people into penury, it has brought loads of new riches to some of the world's richest people.

Foremost among the world's richest who benefited the most during the crisis is Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos who has now created a history by becoming the first person on the Earth to be worth over $200 million.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Amazon owner's net worth crossed $200 billion on Wednesday. It reached $202 billion on Thursday (Indian time). Forbes said the net worth of the world's richest person went up by $4.9 billion to $204.6 billion after Amazon stock edged up two per cent as of Wednesday afternoon, Forbes reported.

On Thursday, it further zoomed to $205 billion, which is equal to over Rs 15 lakh crore in the Indian currency. Bezos' net worth on January 1 this year was roughly $115 billion. Since the beginning of 2020, Amazon stock is up nearly 80 per cent. So, his riches ballooned by more than $87 billion so far this year.

Apart from Amazon, the technology czar, also owns aerospace company Blue Origin, the Washington Post daily newspaper and other private investments. However, his nearly 11 per cent stake in Amazon makes up over 90 per cent of his massive fortune. The e-commerce giant registered a huge spike in demands for its services amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The person who is closest to Bezos now is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates who is presently worth $116.2 billion, according to Forbes, while the Bloomberg Billionaires Index has estimated his net worth at $124 billion. The software icon added $11.2 billion to his fortune this year. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the world's third richest person, saw his wealth zoom by $36.3 billion to $115 billion this year.

Tesla founder Elon R Musk, who fueled the electric vehicle revolution, also enjoyed electrifying growth in his fortune in 2020. The fourth richest person in the world and fourth centibillionaire, he saw his fortune zoom by a whopping $73.6 billion this year to $101 billion as of Thursday.