Business mogul Jeff Bezos’ net worth jumped above $100 billion on Friday amid optimism for Amazon’s Black Friday sales.
Bloomberg reported that the Amazon CEO’s fortune surged $2.4 billion to $100.3 billion, after the retailer’s shares grew more than 2 percent on Black Friday.
In passing the $100 billion mark, Bezos, 53, has become the first billionaire to hit the milestone since 1999. The last billionaire to do so was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
{mosads}
This year alone, Bezos’ fortune has increased by $32.6 billion – more than anyone else on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
The owner of The Washington Post surpassed Gates as the world’s richest person in October, according to Bloomberg. Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett holds the No. 3 slot on the list.
Unlike Gates and Buffett, Bezos has given relatively little of his fortune to charitable causes. In June, he tweeted a solicitation for ideas on a philanthropy strategy.
“I’m thinking I want much of my philanthropic activity to be helping people in the here and now — short term — at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact,” he wrote.