News Flash: Jeff Bezos Is Rich 'Alexa, is Jeff Bezos officially the world's richest person yet?'
By Chloe Albanesius •
This story originally appeared on PCMag
In case you were wondering, Jeff Bezos is not hurting for cash.
As Bloomberg notes, a jump in Amazon shares this morning pushed Bezos's net worth to $90.9 billion, which tops the cash pile of that other tech billionaire, Bill Gates, who's at $90.7 billion.
Don't get too excited (or depressed), though. The market is a fickle beast, so a dip in Amazon's stock means Gates could retain his title as the world's richest person come 4 p.m., when the markets close.
Amazon's quarterly earnings call is scheduled for today at 5:30 p.m. ET, at which point Bezos could revel in his status as Very Rich Person or weep in shame at Gates's continued dominance.
A March list of the world's richest people from Forbes put Gates in the number-one position, followed by Warren Buffet and Bezos at number three. That same month, Bezos unseated Buffett and moved into second place, Bloomberg reported, and in May, Time put Bezos in the number-one spot ahead of Gates and fashion exec Amancio Ortega. So do with that what you will.
To most of us, this type of news will be met with a shrug: $90.9 billion vs. $90.7 billion? Seriously? But a number of these execs do at least donate a good chunk of their wealth to philanthropic efforts. Bill and Melinda Gates are part of The Giving Pledge, a group of billionaires who have promised to give away the majority of their wealth.
As the New York Times notes, Bezos has not signed on to the Giving Pledge, though in June, he asked Twitter followers for ideas about how he should shape his "philanthropy strategy." The Bezos Family Foundation is run by his parents, the Times says, but Bezos does not play an active role.
