Jeff Bezos, World’s Richest Person: Bill Gates to Relinquish Title for First Time Since 2013

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has spent an incredible portion of his life as the world’s richest person. He’s been overtaken at times by the likes of legendary investor Warren Buffet, but always seems to find himself back on top.

Jeff Bezos, the head of Amazon, is on the verge of stealing Gates’ title. A morning surge in Amazon stock trading pushed Bezos ahead of Gates, and if the company’s stock holds strong after it announces quarterly earnings later today, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index will show someone other than Gates on top for the first time since 2013.

At 53, Bezos is nearly a decade younger than Gates—and he remains a committed businessman as Gates participates more in philanthropic endeavors. Which is to suggest that, even if not today, Bezos will very soon hold the title—and, unless Amazon somehow slows down—could retain it for some time.

Perhaps Bezos’ biggest threat moving forward is not Gates, or even Buffet, but rather Mark Zuckerberg. Zuck is currently $20 billion behind in fifth place, but at a startlingly young 33, has an iron grip on the world’s mobile ecosystem.

Amazon reports quarterly earnings after the NASDAQ closing bell this afternoon. The company is expected to post a year-over-year revenue increase of more than 20 per cent. Bezos owns 17 per cent of Amazon.