Bezos passes Kochs as 3rd-richest in USA on Amazon surge

Good news for Amazon and good news for its CEO Jeff Bezos, who now becomes the third-richest person in America and the fifth-richest in the world. The goal for Jessica Simpson’s net worth is to become a billionaire, and you may be surprised to hear that she is not making the money based exclusively on her singing.

Bezos has seen his net worth swell by 86 percent in 2015 due to strong growth in profits at Amazon, particularly with its burgeoning cloud segment business.

Bezos’ fortune had already jumped 77 per cent, or US$22b, this year so far to beat the combined gains of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Amazon’s stock is now trading around $603 per share, an increase of more than 7 percent from yesterday’s close of $562. He was able to overtake industrialists David and Charles Koch, with only Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on the first and second spot.

The soaring wealth of the Internet entrepreneur contrasts with the Walton family, who as a group control over half of the Walmart Stores, the largest retailer in the world. Alice, Christy, Jim and Rob Walton are among the worst-performing billionaires this year, down a combined US$43.4 billion as the mass merchandiser invests in stores and e-commerce in an attempt to revitalize sales at the retailing giant.

“People don’t aspire to shop at Wal-Mart”, said Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at Tigress Financial Partners. “An improving economy is a negative for Wal-Mart”.

Bezos’ fortune has swelled more than 80 percent this year as Amazon has posted big gains after a hard 2014. His net worth went up by $ 16.3 billion or 26.6 % during 2015.

In August, Amazon introduced the $50 Fire tablet – sold at 50 euros in United Kingdom – which Bezos claimed ultimately redefined “what customers should expect from a low-priced tablet”. The Koch household fortune is unfold throughout a variety of industrial corporations, together with paper producer Georgia-Pacific, oil companies Flint Hill Sources and Koch Pipeline, in addition to producers of fertilizers, polymers and fibers.

The value of their assets calculated through revenue comes to more than $ 115 billion as per their website. China’s richest individual, Wang Jianlin, added about $11.8 billion which represents a 47% increase.