Amazon’s founder is close to losing his place as the world’s richest man to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. This comes as Amazon shares fell late on Thursday.
Shares in the world’s largest retailer fell 8.1 percent to $1.637 in late trading hours on the New York Stock Exchange. Beyond this decline, Bezos’s net worth would be $102.8 billion, putting it second behind Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Bezos was ranked first by Microsoft in October 2017. However, the official ranking of the updates will be released after the close of each trading day in the US, so the change will not be formal until the market closes on Friday.
Microsoft, the world’s largest market capitalization, has risen 38% this year. This led to an increase in the value of Gates’ share of 1 percent and his fortune to 107.5 billion dollars. The rest of his fortune derives from stock sales and investments he has made. He said last month in an interview with Bloomberg television that he was still a stock investor with more than 60 percent of his portfolio in equities.
Bezos, 55, would probably remain No. 1 if he had not divorced his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos. The couple announced their separation in January, and the 49-year-old Mackenzie acquired the Amazon holdings in July. Its net worth would drop $32.9 billion as Amazon shares hit $1,637, and would remain the fourth richest woman in the world.
Bill Gates, on the other hand, would have remain in the lead for a long time if he wouldn’t have donated so much of his wealth. He has donated more than $35 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 1994.s
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