On Thursday, it was reported that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had beaten out Bill Gates to become the richest person in the world. His stint at the top was short lived.
Thursday morning it was reported that Amazon’s stock surged, propelling the CEO, who owns 80 million shares in the company, to the top with a net worth of over$90 billion. However, a dip in the company’s second-quarter earnings report quickly sent Bezos right back to second place.
Amazon saw an increase of $15 per share. This was just the push Bezos, who sat in second place at a net worth of $89 billion, needed to surpass Bill Gates. By end of business day, the second quarter earnings report was in, showing a profit of just $197 million on strong sales of $38 billion, a 77% drop from the $857 million made this time last year. Much of this can be contributed to Amazon’s many business investments this year. So for now, Bill Gates remains at the top spot with $90.8 billion and counting.
Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994, became a billionaire 20 years ago. He is now the sixth man to hold the richest person title in the last 30 years.
