PARIS, March 7: Amazon chief Jeff Bezos is now the world’s richest person, having snatched the top spot from Microsoft founder Bill Gates who slips to second place, according to Forbes magazine’s annual billionaires list published Tuesday.

Thanks to a 59-percent rise in Amazon shares over the past 12 months, Bezos’ fortune shot up to $120 billion, way ahead of the $90 billion Forbes listed for Gates.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett held on to his number three ranking, followed by French industrialist Bernard Arnault, who jumped to fourth-richest person from his previous number 11 spot, mostly thanks to euro strength against the dollar, the magazine said.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was fifth on the list.

Two Chinese billionaires rose to be among the 20 richest people in the world: Ma Huateng, CEO of Chinese internet giant Tencent who is the richest person in Asia and number 17 in the world, and Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

There are now a record 2,208 billionaires in the world, Forbes counted, and their combined worth is $9.1 trillion, up 18 percent from last year.

The US has the most billionaires (585), followed by mainland China (373).

Forbes’ list contains 259 newcomers, including the first-ever cryptocurrency billionaires.

Falling fortunes or political headwinds, meanwhile, pushed 121 people out of the illustrious list, including all 10 Saudi Arabians, the magazine said. AFP

Oct 28: Amazon Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Bezos is now the richest person in the world for the second time.

Amazon stock opened up more than 8% higher than Thursday’s close, adding nearly $7 billion to Bezos’ net worth overnight.

According Forbes, Bezos had a net worth of $89.7 billion, as of the start of trading on Friday.

Bill Gates has a net worth of $90.1 billion, up $550 million from yesterday.

Then by 10:15 a.m. by Friday, Amazon stock had climbed nearly 2% since the market opened, adding $900 million to Bezos’ net worth and putting him in the No. 1 spot with a net worth of $90.6 billion versus Gates’ $90.1 billion at that time.

Amazon stock surged in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported strong third quarter earnings.

Amazon reported $43.7 billion in revenue, well above the $42.1 billion analysts expected.

Bezos became the richest person in the world for the first time three months ago as Amazon stock hit an all-time high on July 27, just before Amazon reported its second quarter earnings.

But Bezos’ first time at the top of Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List only lasted a few hours.

Bezos first joined the Forbes 400 in 1998, one year after Amazon went public, with a net worth of $1.6 billion.