Jeff Bezos overtakes Bill Gates to become world's richest man
What's the story
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has overtaken Microsoft's Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world. With a net worth of $112 billion, Bezos has also become the first person in the world to amass a fortune of over $100 billion. The news comes as part of the Forbes Magazine's annual list of 'The World's Billionaires.'
Details
Bezos becomes the first person to cross $100 billion mark
According to Forbes, Bezos's wealth increased to $112 billion from about $73 billion last year due to Amazon's surging stock prices, 16% of which he owns. On the other hand, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has topped the list for some years now, clocked a net worth of $90 billion. Notably, he was valued at $86 billion on the 2017 list of world billionaires.
Not Far Behind
The Richie Rich of the world
Other rich personalities among the top five in the list were CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett at $84 billion, followed by LVMH's Bernard Arnault and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at $72 billion and $71 billion, respectively. Other honchos in the list included Zara's Amancio Ortega, Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Alibaba's Jack Ma.
Closer Home
Here's how India and women fared on the list
From India, the list featured Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani (#19), Wipro's Azim Premji (#58), and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal (#62), with net worth of $40.1 billion, $18.8 billion, and $18.5 billion, respectively. Further, Walmart's Alice Walton became the top-ranking (#16) woman in the list with a net worth of $46 billion, followed by L'Oreal's Francoise Bettencourt Meyers (#18) and BMW's Susanne Klatten (#32).
Information
US President Donald Trump valued at $3.1 billion
Interestingly, according to Forbes, the fortune of US President Donald Trump fell by about $400 million to $3.1 billion during his first year in office. "The president's polarizing personality is costing him business as well," the magazine said.