Jeff Bezos Is Now Third Richest Person In The World: Who Are First, Second?

Jeff Bezos, the chairman and founder of e-commerce giant Amazon is the third richest person in the world. He is worth $164.8 billion.

Bezos was born in New Mexico, but he grew up in Texas. Growing up, he used his parents' garage as a laboratory for his science projects. He would also spend summers working at his grandparents' ranch, repairing Caterpillar tractors.

The 58-year-old tech visionary graduated from Princeton with degrees in computer science and electrical engineering. In 1994, he founded Amazon out of his garage in Seattle.

Outside of Amazon, Bezos also has substantial holdings in more traditional investments, such as real estate, and a significant number of shares in other prominent companies. He owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company that is developing rockets for commercial use.

Bezos first surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates in terms of wealth in July 2017. He was the richest person in the world between October 2017 and January 2021.

In January 2021, he was dethroned as the world's richest by Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and rocket company SpaceX. Musk had an estimated net worth of about $188.5 billion at the time — $1.5 billion more than Bezos.

To date, Musk remains to be the wealthiest man, with a net worth of $232.3 billion, as per Forbes’ ranking of the world’s billionaires.

In November, Musk became the first person with more than $300 billion to his name. Time said Musk made his money differently than most of today’s billionaires, as he made risky investments, instead of low-risk ones.

Musk has been selling shares since Nov. 8, reportedly to pay the massive tax bill amounting to at least $11 billion.

The second richest in the world is LVMH founder Bernard Arnault and his family, with a net worth of $193.3 billion, per Forbes.

According to the business magazine, Arnault became the world’s richest person in May 2021. Back then, he had an estimated net worth of $186.3 billion — putting him $300 million above Bezos, who was then worth $186 billion, and Musk, who was then worth $147.3 billion.

Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Fendi, Christian Dior and Givenchy.