Wealth record broken! Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' net worth soars to new high of $172 billion

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' net worth is at a new high, breaking his previous wealth record, which was set prior to his divorce. According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Bezos’ current net worth is $172 billion. The billionaire's net worth broke previous peak on Wednesday when Amazon’s stock surged 4.4 per cent to a record $2,878 value per share, boosting his fortune.

The wealth record set by Bezos tops his previous high of $167.7 billion, set on September 4, 2018. Despite the coronavirus crisis, Bezos has added $56.7 billion to his net worth just this year. 

The recent jump in wealth, gives Bezos a major lead over Bill Gates in terms of total wealth. Bill Gates remains the second richest person in the world but there is a gap of $58 billion between him and Bezos. For those unaware, Bill Gates had surpassed Bezos last year in November to become world’s richest man for a day. Since then, the gap between the two has been widening. 

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What makes this interesting is also the fact that Bezos relinquished a quarter of his stake in Amazon.com Inc to ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos as part of a divorce settlement last year. 

The Amazon stock surge added billions to Mackenzie's wealth as well. The billionaire gained $2.3 billion on Wednesday which pushed her net worth to $63.2 billion. She has added $19.8 billion to her net worth this year. Mackenzie, who acquired a 4% stake in Amazon after the couple split, climbed to number 12 spot in Bloomberg’s ranking. 

A study done by Comparisun, an advice platform for small businesses, had predicted that Jeff Bezos could become the first trillionaire in the world by 2026.