PAAmazon founder Jeff Bezos is no longer the wealthiest person on the planet, sinking to a still enviable number two in terms of the richest living humans.
The 55-year-old businessman has been overtaken after a disappointing third-quarter earnings call saw Amazon stocks plummet seven percent in after-hours trading.
As a result, Bezos’ vast fortune has taken a bit of a hit, plunging to ‘just’ $103.9 billion. No doubt he’ll be in the Amazon warehouse any day now to make up for the loss.
PAAs a result, Bezos was – perhaps unsurprisingly – overtaken by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Gates, who Bezos previously overtook in 2018, is worth a cool $105.7 billion, and is now sitting pretty in the top spot.
According to Forbes, Bezos became the richest man on Earth back in 2018, knocking Gates from his 24-year reign and becoming the first centibillionaire on the Forbes 400 list.
However, the drop in Amazon shares isn’t the only reason Bezos has found himself relatively out of pocket. With his high profile – and costly – divorce settlement having been finalised earlier this year, he’s had a few more bills to pay than usual. Wonder if the tax bill has come through yet…
As part of the divorce settlement, Bezos gave one quarter of his stake in Amazon to former wife MacKenzie Bezos, 49, who is now worth an eye-popping $32.7 billion.
Following the breakup of their 26-year marriage, the author is reportedly now amongst the top twenty wealthiest people on the planet, as well as being the fourth richest woman.
Jeff and MacKenzie’s divorce was the largest divorce settlement ever recorded, according to The Guardian, vastly surpassing the previous record of $2.5 billion set by Jocelyn Wildenstein after she divorced art dealer Alec Wildenstein in 1999.
In May, MacKenzie pledged to give away a substantial sum of her wealth, writing the following open letter on The Giving Pledge website:
There are lots of resources each of us can pull from our safes to share with others — time, attention, knowledge, patience, creativity, talent, effort, humor, compassion.
In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.
PAThis year, Amazon recorded a 26% drop in net income during its third quarter, marking the online store’s first profit decline since 2017.
It looks like the Friday drinks will undoubtedly be on Gates this week, who – despite having given away most of his Microsoft stake – is still sitting on unimaginable piles of wealth.
The business magnate has been a firm fixture on the Forbes rich list since it began in 1987, debuting with a fortune of $1.25 billion.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.