Amazon's Jeff Bezos adds record $13bn to his wealth in one day

Amazon shares surged 7.9 per cent on Monday, the most since December 2018 on rising optimism about web shopping trends

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon added $13bn to his fortune on Monday. Reuters

Jeff Bezos added $13 billion (Dh47.71bn) to his net worth on Monday, the largest single-day jump for an individual since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was created in 2012.

Amazon shares surged 7.9 per cent, the most since December 2018 on rising optimism about web shopping trends, and are now up 73 per cent this year.

Mr Bezos, Amazon’s 56-year-old founder and the world’s richest person, has seen his fortune swell $74bn in 2020 to $189.3bn, despite the US entering its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. He is now personally worth more than the market valuation of giants such as Exxon Mobil, Nike and McDonald’s.

Mackenzie Bezos, his ex-wife, gained $4.6bn on Monday and is now the 13th-richest person in the world.

Other tech titans are also enjoying a surge driven partly by people forced to stay at home and helped by the boost given to markets by unprecedented stimulus efforts by governments and central bankers.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has added almost $15bn to his net worth so far this year, even as the company deals with brands boycotting ads on the social network.