Jeff Bezos adds record US$13b in single day to fortune

[WASHINGTON] Jeff Bezos added US$13 billion to his net worth on Monday, the largest single-day jump for an individual since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was created in 2012.

Amazon.com shares surged 7.9 per cent, the most since December 2018 on rising optimism about web shopping trends, and are now up 73 per cent this year.

Bezos, Amazon's 56-year-old founder and the world's richest person, has seen his fortune swell US$74 billion in 2020 to US$189.3 billion, despite the US entering its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. He's now personally worth more than the market valuation of giants such as Exxon Mobil, Nike and McDonald's.

Mackenzie Bezos, his ex-wife, gained US$4.6 billion Monday and is now the 13th-richest person in the world.

Other tech titans are also enjoying a surge driven partly by people forced to stay at home and helped by the boost given to markets by unprecedented stimulus efforts by governments and central bankers. Seven of the ten richest people on the planet owe their wealth to the sector, including Elon Musk, whose fortune has soared US$47 billion so far in 2020.

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has added almost US$15 billion to his net worth so far this year, even as the company deals with brands boycotting ads on the social network.

BLOOMBERG