- Amazon.com's founder, Jeff Bezos, has surged past French billionaire Bernard Arnault to secure the position of the world's second-richest individual. This shift is primarily attributed to the robust performance of tech stocks and a softening in the demand for high-end luxury items, such as designer handbags. As of now, Bezos, the face behind Amazon's success, ranks just below the world's wealthiest individual, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk.
- Bezos boasts a staggering total net worth of $156 billion, marking an impressive increase of $49.3 billion since the commencement of 2023, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Conversely, Bernard Arnault, the founder and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has witnessed a decline in his net worth, amounting to $6.95 billion, leaving him with $155 billion for the year. This decrease has shifted him to the third position among the globe's wealthiest people, now trailing Bezos and Musk.
Why it matters
Bezos, like his peers in the tech industry, has observed substantial growth in his net worth during the year, primarily driven by a remarkable 54% increase in Amazon's stock price since the commencement of 2023. This uptrend comes on the heels of a challenging year in 2022, during which Amazon's stock faced a 49% drop.
