Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Loses Crown As World's Richest Man

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has lost his title as world's richest man. He lost his position after Amazon shares fell 7 per cent in after-hours trading on Thursday. The fall came after Amazon reported lackluster third-quarter earnings. Amazon reported a 26% drop in net income in its third quarter, its first profit decline since 2017. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates returned to the number one spot.

According to Forbes, Jeff Bezos’ fortune came down to 103.9 billion US dollars (apporx Rs 73,78,22,99,20,000 more than 7378 billion rupees). That puts him at number two among the world’s richest behind Gate who is worth 105.7 billion US dollars (approx Rs 75,04,83,21,25,000 i.e more than 7504 billion rupees) .

Gates had remained the richest man in the world for 24 straight years before Bezos became the richest man in the world in 2018 for the first time. He also become the first centibillionaire on The Forbes 400 that year with a net worth of USD 160 billion.

The fall in fortunes of Bezos is also a result of his divorce. Bezos transferred a quarter of his Amazon stake to his ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos as part of their divorce settlement, which was finalized earlier this year. MacKenzie Bezos is now worth USD 32.7 billion becoming one of the top twenty richest people in the world.