Amazon boss Bezos replaces Microsoft founder Bill Gates and now leads the list of the richest people by the US magazine "Forbes" - with an estimated fortune of 112 billion dollar. Third is star investor Warren Buffet.
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has superseded the Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the richest person in the world. Bezos' fortune has nearly doubled over the past 12 months, thanks to the massive increase in the share of its Internet corporation, according to the billionaire ranking published by Forbes magazine.
The fortune of the 54-year-old is now estimated at 112 billion dollars (97 billion euros). By contrast, Gates' equity shrank by about $400 million and now is at $90 billion. According to the magazine, the gap between first and second places in the annual list has never been so big.
The US investor Warren Buffett ranks with $84 billion in third place. Bernard Arnault, head of French luxury goods group LVMH, made a big move from eleventh to fourth, which, according to Forbes, is largely due to the strength of the euro against the dollar. Arnault's fortune is at $72 billion as reported by the magazine.
All in all there are 2208 billionaires in the world according to Forbes, which is a record. Their total assets are therefore $9.1 trillion, an increase of 18 percent compared to the previous year. The US is therefore the leader with 585 billionaires. In second place is China with 373 billionaires. However, those from Hong Kong Region are not counted here.
Incidentally, US President Donald Trump has slipped back in the list - by 222 places to rank 766. His fortune is now estimated by Forbes to $3.1 billion, which is $400 million less than a year ago. In the Forbes list of 2017 Trump had already slipped 220 places.
Source: dpa, AFP
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