Amazon profit surge places Bezos within $5b of world richest

BOSTON — A surge in after hours trading for Amazon. com added $3.3 billion to the fortune of Jeff Bezos, putting him less than $5 billion away from becoming the world’s richest person.

Bezos saw his fortune surpass $80 billion for the first time, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The 53-year old has added $65.2 billion to his net worth since the index debuted in March 2012 and ended Thursday with a net worth of $79 billion. His net worth will surpass $80 billion on the index for the first time if the gains hold Friday.

Amazon shares added almost $50 after the company projected sales that may beat estimates in the current quarter, furthering an unbroken 20-year streak of double-digit revenue growth. Amazon had first-quarter sales of $35.7 billion and earnings of $1.48 a share, beating Wall Street analyst expectations. Shares closed at $918.38 Thursday and reached as high as $965 after hours.The rise for Bezos beat the after-hours gains seen by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

The pair added $1.4 billion when shares of Google parent Alphabet rose as high as $938.18 on news that the smartphone ad business helped Alphabet post revenue of $20.12 billion and net income of $7.73 a share.

Page is now worth $44.7 billion and Brin $43.7 billion, the 11th- and 12th-richest people in the world Thursday.