Amazon founder Jeff Bezos becomes world’s second richest man

Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of the world’s largest online shopping retailer Amazon.com, has surpassed Warren Buffet as the second richest man in the world, reports CNN. The Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index valued Bezos at $75.6 billion and Buffet at $74.9bn, but Bill Gates is still the world’s richest man with a net worth of $86bn. On Tuesday, Amazon announced that it plans to buy Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com, and on Wednesday, the company’s value in the stock market rose by $9bn, adding $1.5bn to its CEO’s net worth.

We’re excited to welcome @souq to the @amazon family https://t.co/9lsYqRSyuf

— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 28, 2017

The company’s shares hit a record high shortly after a Barclay's analyst declared Amazon is "likely to be one of the first trillion-dollar market cap companies." According to the Bloomberg index, four out of the top five richest people in the world are American, and all of them are men. At number four is Spanish business tycoon Amancio Ortega, followed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg. Liliane Bettencourt, the richest woman in the world, came in at number 14 on the list. The French heiress is one of the principal shareholders of the beauty and cosmetics giant L'Oréal, and has a net worth of $38.3bn.