Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Becomes Richest Person On The Planet

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest person ever after his net worth hit $151 billion (£114bn). Lend us a tenner, Jeff.

Bezos' unbelievable wealth means that he personally is richer than some counties and is the richest person Forbes has ever registered.

The news coincides with Amazon's Prime Day yesterday - a server-crashing, capitalist spend-fest that sees prices dropped on the e-tailer for one day only. As Prime Day played out, Amazon's share price rose and fell, initially rising as sales began and then taking a drop when the site crashed.

PA

Bezos set up Amazon way back in 1994, but now owns just 16 percent, having sold off a bunch of shares to fund Blue Origin - a space company.

However, despite Bezos hitting Forbes' top spot, Microsoft founder Bill Gates would be worth a helluva lot more, except the kind-hearted tech magnate gives so much of his cash away through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that he's dropped down the list.

The Gates family have pledged to give away most of their vast wealth through the foundation, which aims to improve healthcare and reduce extreme poverty globally. Their philanthropy also includes offering educational opportunities to young people and access to IT.

As it is, Gates has a net worth of a measly $93 billion (£70.8bn) - barely worth getting out of bed for, I'm sure you'll agree.

Seemingly, keen to copy Gates' good work, Bezos has given away $33 million (£25bn) to The Dream, a programme which gives scholarships to undocumented immigrant kids.

Following on from that, he has also asked for ideas about good causes he can support.

In a recent tweet the billionaire thanked the public for offering suggestions for philanthropic ideas he could get behind. He promised his followers that he had 'settled on two areas' that he feels excited about, adding that he will release further details, and the possibility of some job roles, during the summer.

So we shouldn't have too long to wait to find out if he's going to be helping a worthwhile cause such as the My Guinness Fund (which I sent to him as a suggestion) or something more mainstream like a sanctuary for sick donkeys.

Topics: Celebrity, jeff bezos, Money, US News, Amazon

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19