Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has set a new wealth record by adding $13 billion (over N5trn) to his net worth on Monday.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, it is the largest single-day jump for an individual since 2012.
Amazon.com shares surged 7.9%, the most since December 2018 on rising optimism about web shopping trends, and are now up 73% this year.
Bezos has now seen his fortune increase from $74 billion to $189.3 billion, despite the United States entering its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
He is now personally worth more than the market valuation of giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Nike Inc. and McDonald’s Corp.
Bezos founded in 1995 and the company has now grown to “one of the most valuable, powerful companies on the planet.”
According to Business Insider, Bezos is on track to be the first trillionaire by 2026.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie Bezos, his ex-wife, gained $4.6 billion on Monday and is now the 13th richest person in the world.
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg has added almost $15 billion to his net worth so far this year, even as the company deals with brands boycotting ads on the social network.
Other tech mogul are also enjoying a surge driven partly by people forced to stay at home due to the pandemic and helped by the boost given to markets by unprecedented stimulus efforts by governments and central bankers.
A study released this April by the Institute for Policy Studies found that 34 of the nation’s wealthiest 170 billionaires “have seen their wealth increase by tens of millions of dollars” during the pandemic.
They include Bezos, Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Zoom founder Eric Yuan, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and Silicon Valley real estate mogul John Albert Sobrato.
The report noted that “the Jeff Bezos wealth surge is unprecedented in modern financial history and varies greatly day by day,” with the $25 billion Bezos racked up between January 1 and April 15.
