Business
Bill Gates Topples Jeff Bezos as World’s Richest Man
- Bill Gates Topples Jeff Bezos as World’s Richest Man
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp, on Friday, toppled Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, as the world’s richest person.
The emergence of Gates was partly as a result of 4 percent surged in the price of Microsoft share due to a $10 billion cloud-computing contract awarded to Microsoft over Amazon by the Trump administration.
President Trump had accused Jeff Bezos of using his media company, the Washington Post, to attack him during the presidential campaign and in the office.
Since the announcement of the contract, Amazon’s value dipped by 2 percent to put Bezos’s net worth at $109 billion while a 4 percent surged in Microsoft share bolstered Bill Gates’s net worth to $110 billion. Making it the first time in more than two years that Gates will topple Jeff Bezos, who saw his net worth dropped from $150 billion after separating from his wife earlier this year.
The divorce made Mackenzie Bezos the third richest woman in the world with $38 billion net worth.
Microsoft has gained 48 percent year-to-date, boosting Gates’s total stake in the company by 1 percent.
Year-to-date, Bill Gates added $19.5 billion to his total net worth while Jeff Bezos lost $16.2 billion.
Jeff Bezos’ owned Nash Holdings bought Washington Post from Graham family for $250 million in October 2013.