NewStats: 3,261,153 , 8,173,206 topics. Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2025 at 11:29 AM 56s

By Kate Vinton

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has overtaken Bill Gates and is now the richest person in the world, with a fortune topping $90 billion for the first time ever.

When markets opened on Thursday, Bezos had a net worth of $90.6 billion, putting him $500 million ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Amazon stock opened up 1.6% on Thursday, adding $1.4 billion to Bezos’ net worth. That was enough to put him ahead of Gates, who was last sured on Forbes’ real-time rankings for just two days nearly a year ago by Spanish retail giant Amancio Ortega.

Forbes started tracking billionaires around the globe in 1987. Bezos is now the seventh person to hold the title of the world’s richest person and the third American to top the global ranks besides Gates and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.

While Gates and Buffett both appeared on Forbes’ first ranking of America’s 400 Richest people in 1982, Bezos is a newer addition to Forbes’ wealth rankings. He first appeared on the Forbes 400 in 1998, a year after Amazon went public, with a $1.6 billion fortune. Bezos ranked third richest in the world on Forbes 2017 list of the World's Billionaires, published in March, with a fortune of $72.8 billion.

Bezos would be nowhere close to being the world’s wealthiest person had Gates not given so much of his fortune to philanthropy. Gates, who created the Giving Pledge with Buffett to encourage billionaires to give at least half of their wealth to charitable causes, had given away $32.9 billion over the course of his lifetime through end of 2016. Forbes estimates that Bezos, who has not signed the pledge, had given approximately $100 million to charity through the end of 2015. In June, Bezos tweeted out a request for ideas for his philanthropy, garnering thousands of responses.
Bezos attended Princeton and then worked at a hedge fund before starting his online bookseller in a garage in Seattle in 1994. Amazon has since grown into an online retail behemoth selling a wide range of products. It also offers cloud services through its Amazon Web Services division, known as AWS. Outside of his day job, Jeff Bezos owns aerospace company Blue Origin and the Washington Post.

Gates fortune is built on software firm Microsoft, which he founded in 1975 with his friend Paul Allen. Gates has sold off much of his Microsoft stake but still owns about 2% of the company's shares, worth about $12.4 billion -- just under 14% of his fortune. His investment firm Cascade Investments has ploughed Gates' money into a wide variety of assets, including public stocks, real estate, private equity and venture capital. Gates owns stakes in companies as diverse as Canadian National Railway, hygiene technologies firm Ecolab and Mexican Coke bottler Femsa.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2017/07/27/jeff-bezos-overtakes-bill-gates-to-become-worlds-richest-man/#5156642f791c

these men can Buy regions in Nigeria



wonder when we will have such powerful companies here

not proud of him

He'll still go down the list like others. His stay on top of the list is only temporal. He should go and ask the likes of Carlos slim, Warren buffet, Amancio Ortega etc. They all topped the richest men list, where are they today? Bill Gates is the king of them all

But the simple truth is neither jeff or bill gate reach me

Bill Gates was a fool to lose this position by giving his fortune to charity.


Was it charity that made him rich?

i am coming leeme wake up

Overtaking is allowed.

NwaAmaikpe:

Bill Gates was a fool to lose this position by giving his fortune to charity.

Was it charity that made him rich?

just land

Correct guy

Gates has occupied the top list more than anyone

Yes. from selling books to running the world!

Bezos attended Princeton and then worked at a hedge fund before starting his online bookseller in a garage in Seattle in 1994.

Just 1994? Life shaa.

THIS 90 BILLION DOLLERS NA WETIN THEM SAY ONE PERSON THIEF FOR NAIJA HERE NAAA, MAKE THEM NEVER SAY NA HIM BE THE RICHEST OOO BECAUSE IF MY PEOPLE FOR NAIJA OPEN UP YOU GO NO SAY THIS MAN DEE LEARN

Overtaking is allowed

$90billion!

One man!

God please give me revelation to make wealth and be in good health.

Naija bloggers be like "Diezani is richer".... Confused lot.

Gates will still top this one too jare

okay.. next!

Okay

same 90 billion diezani stole

lwkmd

ok so i guess by now its obvious diezani never stole so much and kunle afolayan was smoking ganja before his video

That's my uncle

Congrats!

Yeligray:
But the simple truth is neither jeff or bill gate reach me

I like your courage though am next!

Watch out . . .

Seun Osewa is getting there.

BILLs left the GATES open

Thought this day would never come
But it is here Gates e don do biko free space for another

The fact is that the West knows that the real richest ppl in the world are Arab cheiks and Russian plutocrats.... The real worth of Saudi cheiks is far ahead of those of gates and co

lofty900:
He'll still go down the list like others. His stay on top of the list is only temporal.

Wetin concern you for there? Neither Slim nor Gates dey complain. Na us commoners dey carry their matter for head!!