Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the richest person in the world, added $5 billion to his wealth in the days since 1 June to take his net wealth to $141.9 billion, the Forbes World's Billionaires list released on Monday showed.
That makes Bezos worth roughly $49 billion more than Microsoft founder Bill Gates and about $60 billion more than Warren Buffett, the founder chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Bill Gates, the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation, is the second-richest man in the world with $92.9 billion.
Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors in the world, is in the third place with a total wealth of $82.2 billion.
Earlier this year, Bezos officially became the richest person in the world as Amazon became the second most valuable company in the world, behind Apple.
Amazon's customer base continued to rise despite the latest hike in price for Prime customers in exchange for a slew of services and perks, helping the company's stock continue to increase in value. Even Buffett now regrets not investing in Amazon when he had the chance.
Bezos’s success can be attributed to his ability to take risks that he has been demonstrating since he was 30.
Bezos, a straight-A high school student and the class valedictorian, was accepted via early admission to Princeton, according to American journalist Brad Stone's biography. He majored in computer science and electrical engineering, and then went on to work various finance and tech jobs after college.
The idea of online sales struck him when he was serving as a vice president at the hedge fund DE Shaw in the 1990s that Bezos. Selling books on the internet had its risks, but helped Jess Bezos learn lessons the hard way.
Bezos quit his job to start his dream company in 1994 and the decision paid off. Amazon went public three years later.