Jeff Bezos' net worth: How the ex-Amazon CEO went from startup founder to one of the richest people in the world
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- Jeff Bezos is one of the richest people in the world.
- Bezos' net worth, which is tied to Amazon's stock, sits at $156 billion.
- The former Amazon CEO spent his money on business pursuits, a yacht, and private jets.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is part of a rarified club. With a 12-figure net worth, he's one of few living people who can say they have held the title of richest person on the planet.
Bezos is now worth $156 billion, making him the third wealthiest person in the world, according to Bloomberg.
Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, and Bernard Arnault comes in second place.
His wealth is largely tied up in Amazon stock: He has maintained a 10% stake — worth about $132 billion — in the company he founded.
The rest of his fortune comprises his space travel company Blue Origin, worth about $11.2 billion, per Bloomberg; his $500 million yacht Koru; and a series of other private investments and personal assets, including The Washington Post and a lavish real estate portfolio.
Bezos' net worth started to reach eye-popping numbers in 1998, when he debuted on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans with a net worth of $1.6 billion, just four years after Amazon was founded and one year after the company went public.
As Amazon grew — from an online bookseller run from a garage to one of the world's largest retailers, offering everything from groceries to cloud services to streaming video — so did his wealth. In 2017, the one-time McDonald's line cook became the richest person in the world, beating Bill Gates.
Bezos held the position pretty steadily — even through his divorce from MacKenzie Scott — until 2022 when Musk and Arnault overtook him.
While billions of Bezos' fortune has been pledged and donated to various causes, including fighting climate change and helping the homeless, he's also spent his money on luxury pursuits.
Bezos' yacht alone cost $500 million. The multibillionaire also owns homes throughout the country, including a $78 million property in Hawaii, and $68 million mansion on Miami's "billionaire bunker," and at least two private jets.