Jeff Bezos dethrones Bill Gates on Forbes’ wealthiest American list after 24 Years

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has leapfrogged Bill Gates as the richest person in America, according to Forbes.

This marks the first time since 1994 that Gates has not stood atop the list of America’s wealthiest individuals, the magazine wrote, though the Microsoft founder is still worth $97 billion. But Bezos, who was the list’s biggest gainer, was also the first individual to breakthrough $100 billion, with a fortune estimated at $160 billion. That’s up $78.5 billion since last year.

Bezos was helped out by a roughly 100 percent year-over-year gain in his company’s stock.

Also Read: Amazon Joins Apple as Second $1 Trillion Company

Last month, Amazon became the second company worth $1 trillion, hitting the milestone one month after Apple became the first to do so.

Amazon reported in July it hauled in $52.9 billion in revenue during the second quarter, along with a record $2.5 billion in profit. Once a digital go-to spot for book sales, Amazon has morphed into a powerhouse on several fronts, from cloud services to advertising.

And Amazon is pushing to further its success in entertainment as well. At the Emmys last month the company’s hit series “Mrs. Maisel” netted five awards, including for Outstanding Comedy Series.

The company’s success put it under the microscope. President Trump criticized the company earlier this year for using the United States Postal Service as its personal “delivery boy” and skirting taxes.

And recently, Sen. Bernie Sanders skewered Bezos and Amazon for its “grossly underpaid” facility workers — a claim Amazon called “inaccurate and misleading.”

Rounding out the top five richest people in America per Forbes’ list were Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett ($88.3 billion), Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ($61 billion) and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison ($58.4 billion).

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