Microsoft’s co-founder and America’s famous business magnate, Bill Gates has recently joined the $100 billion club accompanying Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second “centibillionaire”, reports Bloomberg.
Bill Gates, once the world’s richest person, has now entered the US$100 billion doorway, joining Jeff Bezos who is worth US$145.6 billion in the exclusive club, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This index tracks the riches of some 2,800 billionaires, where 145 are worth at least US$10 billion, making them deca-billionaires.
Where Bezos gained $20.7 billion this year alone to exceed his wealth to a whopping $145 billion in net, Gates has gained around $9.5 billion in 2018 to reach $100 billion on the nose.
The Gates and Bezos mega-riches may not last long. Bill Gates has donated over $35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and said he plans to give away at least half of his wealth. Bezos, on the other hand, may be about to give up some of his wealth for a different reason: he and his wife Mackenzie are divorcing.
While Gates held the title as the “centibillionaire”, his company was also the first to top the $500 billion in market value, currently standing at over $753 billion.
These two fortunes Bezos and Gates underscore a widening wealth gap in the US, where those with the most capital are accumulating riches the fastest. And this has become a worldwide trend.
