JEFF BEZOS IS THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD

The net worth of the five richest Americans is more than the cumulative wealth of the five richest individuals from China, Russia and India. According to data recently presented by Buy Shares, the Americans account for $609.3 billion while their counterparts are worth $463.6 billion combined. From the overviewed countries, the combined wealth of China’s five richest stands at $207.6 billion, while India’s wealthy account for $143.6 billion. On the other hand, the top five Russian wealthy people have a net worth of $112.4 billion. 

In total, the twenty richest people sampled from the four countries are worth $1.72 trillion. Jeff Bezos emerges as the richest person globally with a fortune of $205 billion as of August 26, 2020. Notably, Bezos is $88.8 billion richer than Microsoft founder Bill Gates who ranks as the second richest person in the world.

The Buy Shares report notes the contribution of the coronavirus pandemic to the increasing wealth of the global billionaires. According to the report: “During the coronavirus pandemic, the global billionaires have been among the biggest beneficiaries. For example, Jeff Bezos crossed the $200 billion mark, a record milestone since Amazon was among the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic. In the course of the health crisis, Amazon largely benefited as consumers turned to online retailers for essential goods. Bezos’ wealth is mostly in Amazon stock and it has been skyrocketing in recent years along with the company’s share price.”

The wealth of overviewed individuals is estimated based on their documented assets and also factoring liabilities like debts.