On Thursday, as Amazon stocks opened at $1071.30, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world, breaking Bill Gates’ 22-year record of occupying the position. He enjoyed his reign in the number one spot on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, but it was short lived.
Amazon share prices rose to $1,083.31, but then as the day progressed, prices declined. The shares traded midday at $1046, and closed at $1014.54. Bezos’ net worth at the beginning of the day went up to as high as $92.3 billion, but at the end of the day, it fell to $89.8 billion, making Bill Gates the richest person in the world again, with a net worth of $90.1 billion.
However, the primary reason behind Bezos’ accession was the fact that Bill Gates has donated a whopping $32.1 billion in his lifetime towards charitable causes. Had he not done so, Gates’ net worth would be well over $120 billion.
Bezos has long had a reputation for being stingy and he is the only one out of the world’s top five billionaires to not yet have signed Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge. His philanthropic efforts so far amounted to only about $100 million. Instead, he has used his money to purchase a large luxury home in Washington D.C., and, well, he can’t be faulted for doing so.
Gates, on the other hand, through the Gates Foundation has brought significant change to the world over the last two-and-a-half decades, with his efforts to reduce poverty, improve sanitation and eradicate polio, to name a few.
For now, Gates remains the richest person in the world. But most importantly, he uses his resources to make the world a far better place.
Here is everything you need to know about Bill Gates’ journey:
![](http://old.techfunnel.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Bill-Gates-Journey.jpg)
Source: http://fundersandfounders.com/how-bill-gates-started/
Megha Shah for TechFunnel.com
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