Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos is expanding his fortune faster than anyone else in the world and could be worth close to $200 billion by the end of 2018.
Bezos has been the richest man in the world for almost a year, taking over the top spot from Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Typically, the wealthiest billionaires experience steady increases in their wealth. Bezos, however, has doubled his net worth in the past year, reports MONEY.
In September 2017, Besoz’ net worth was approximately $84 billion. After Amazon was recently valued at $1 trillion, his net worth jumped to $166 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Compare Bezos’ increase in fortune to that of Gates, who currently has a net worth of about $95 billion (versus around $85 billion in 2017). While Gates’ net worth increased 12 per cent over 12 months, Bezos’ soared 100 per cent during the same time period.
It’s worth pointing out that Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post and the aerospace and spaceflight services company Blue Origin, has $70 billion more than any other human being.
Bezos’ net worth is calculated largely from how well Amazon stock is performing. The company’s shares have more than doubled in the past year, which has directly impacted and increased his personal wealth. MONEY estimated in August that Bezos’s net worth was increasing $260 million per day this year—for a total of $95 billion in 2018 alone.
What does Bezos do with all his money? He’s donated less than 1 per cent to charitable causes (about $135 million in total). Gates, however, has donated stock holdings worth $50 billion, according to Bloomberg. But Bezos plans on giving back more. Last year he asked the public for ideas about philanthropic causes, promising to announce his intentions by the end of this summer.
Despite having enough money to do whatever he wants, there are a few things Bezos does that keeps him down to earth. He eats a healthy breakfast with his wife every day and never schedules early-morning meetings because he uses that time to be with his wife and children. He regularly washes the dishes after dinner, and he also makes sleep a priority—aiming for eight hours a night (in contrast, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently admitted to routinely working 120 hours a week and needing Ambien to fall asleep).
