Following Pentagon Move, Jeff Bezos Sets a New Wealth Record of $211 Billion

When it comes to wealth accumulation, Jeff Bezos is way ahead of the rest of the world.

The world's richest man's net worth reached a new high of $211 billion on Tuesday, as Amazon.com Inc. shares climbed 4.7% following the Pentagon's announcement that it was cancelling a cloud-computing contract with rival Microsoft Corp. As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the rise increased Bezos' worth by $8.4 billion.

The very last time somebody in the Bloomberg ranking came close to this figure was in January, when Tesla Inc.'s Elon Musk temporarily surpassed $210 billion. Two individuals spent the first half of the year trading the top rank as the world's richest person, however, Bezos has solidified his position as the world's richest person since mid-March, when Amazon shares rose about 20%.

In recent months soaring stock market prices have bolstered the wealth of a number of tech heavyweights, including Musk. Despite the fact that Tesla shares plummeted on Tuesday, he is in the second position after Bezos with a net worth of $180.8 billion. Bernard Arnault, the French luxury goods magnate, comes in third place with a net worth of $168.5 billion.

Bezos's fortune is significantly bigger than it was during an Amazon stock boom in 2020, when his net worth peaked at $206.9 billion as the epidemic boosted the company's price. Bezos, 57, formally stepped down as Amazon's CEO this week following a 27-year tenure. He still owns approximately 11% of the corporation and serves as its executive chairman.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that it was cancelling a $10 billion cloud-computing contract awarded to Microsoft Corp. in 2019. The decision comes after several years of bickering between the government and some of the top U.S. tech corporations over the contract. The decision suggests that it intended to divide the job between Microsoft and rival Amazon.

MacKenzie Scott, Bezos' ex-wife and the world's 15th richest person, saw her fortune raise $2.9 billion on Tuesday, surpassing the $2.7 billion she's given away so far this year. It just goes to show that some billionaires can't give their money away as quickly as they make it.