Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos watched his net worth climb about $3.4 billion after his company delivered its second consecutive surprise profit and sent its stock climbing about 7 percent on Thursday.
With an estimated net worth of $53 billion, Bezos is officially worth more than both Charles and David Koch (individually), the controversial billionaires behind Koch Industries.
He also comes in at No. 3 in the U.S., ranking behind Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, who still holds the No. 1 spot with a net worth of $79.3 billion.
These rankings are constantly on the move and are largely based on estimates, but Bezos now comes in at No. 5 on lists from Forbes and Bloomberg that rank the richest people in the world.
Bezos’ net worth was listed at $34.8 billion, ranking him at No. 15 last time Forbes did an official count. But the publication’s real time stats show he’s picked up about $20 billion and climbed 10 spots over the past year.
Amazon’s stock is now trading around $603 per share, an increase of more than 7 percent from yesterday’s close of $562. That’s up more than 94 percent from where it was to start the year.