Gates joins Bezos as only centibillionaires
WASHINGTON: Bloomberg tracks the fortunes of some 2,800 billionaires and of those, 145 are worth at least US$10 billion (RM40.07 billion), making them decabillionaires. But now, the world contains two c en ti billion aires simultaneously.
Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, once the world’s richest person, has again eclipsed the US$100 billion threshold, joining Amazon.com Inc’s Jeff Bezos in the exclusive club, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Gates’ fortune, now US$100 billion on the nose, hasn’t reached such heights since the dot-com boom, when Bezos was only beginning his march up the world’s wealth rankings.
The Amazon founder is now worth US$145.6 billion, having added US$20.7 billion this year, while Gates has gained US$9.5 billion.
The two fortunes underscore a widening wealth gap in the United States, where those with the most capital are accumulating riches the fastest.
It’s a worldwide trend. France’s Bernard Arnault has an US$86.2 billion fortune, equal to three per cent of his country’s economy.
The net worth of Spain’s Amancio Ortega represents five per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product. And then there’s Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose worth is about a third of Georgia’s gross domestic product.
The Gates and Bezos megafortunes may not last long. Gates has donated US$35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and said he intended to give away at least half of his wealth.
Meanwhile, Bezos may be about to cede some of his fortune for a different reason: he and his wife Mackenzie are divorcing.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranks the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals. This year’s biggest losers in the group include Tesla Inc chief executive officer Elon Musk.