Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994 as a small online retailer, has been named the richest person in history, even eclipsing his next door Seattle area neighbor, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos’ net worth soared to $105.1 billion on Monday as the company’s shares rose above $1,245.
Amazon now has a market value of $600 billion, and Bloomberg notes that Bezos has already added $6 billion to his fortune so far this year.
Some think Amazon is still in the early innings of its growth, with Piper Jaffray analysts Michael Olson and Sam Kemp noting today that the company still has money to make in its core retailing segment.
“The conclusion is that Amazon, despite its size and continued strong growth, is arguably still in the early innings of its share gain potential, even in the company’s most penetrated market,” Olson and Kemp wrote.
Amazon also has extended its reach into other segments, including logistics, cloud computing, entertainment and devices.
Both Bezos and Gates live in the tony Seattle area neighborhood of Medina, Washington. Bloomberg notes that Gates would have had a net worth of $150 billion, if he’d held onto money that he’s given away to his philanthropic arm, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates is now the second richest person in the world, with a net worth of $93 billion.
Even at the peak of the dot-com bubble, Gates’ net worth only reached $100 billion. Adjusted for inflation, CNN says that stake today would have been worth about $148 billion today.
