With $150bn net worth, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, is richest man in modern history

The Amazon. com Inc . founder ’ s net worth topped $ 150 bn in New York on

Monday , making him the richest man in modern history .

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , Jeff Bezos ’ s net worth is about

$ 55 bn more than Microsoft Corp co - founder Bill Gates , the world ’ s second - richest

person.

Bezos , 54 , has also topped Gates in inflation - adjusted terms . The $ 100 bn mark that

Gates hit briefly in 1999 at the height of the dot- com boom would be worth about

$ 149 bn in today ’ s dollars .

That makes the Amazon chief

executive officer richer than

anyone else on earth since at

least 1982 , when Forbes

published its inaugural wealth

ranking .

Bezos crossed the threshold as

Amazon was preparing to kick

off its 36 - hour summer sales

event , Prime Day , which got off

to a rocky start as glitches struck the firm ’ s website and mobile app.

Shares of the company , which had climbed to a record $1 , 841 . 95 earlier Monday ,

pared gains on the news , closing up 0 . 5 per cent at $ 1, 822 . 49 .

It is believed that Bezos ’ s stay above $ 150 billion may be short - lived as the stock

slipped below $1 , 800 in extended trading.

His net worth has soared by $ 52 bn this year , which is more than the entire

fortune of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ’ s Chairman Jack Ma , Asia ’ s wealthiest

person.

It also puts Bezos ’ s personal fortune within spitting distance of the $151 . 5 bn

controlled by the Walton family , the world ’ s richest dynasty