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What is Jeff Bezos’ net worth?

JEFF Bezos has spent the last quarter century transforming Amazon from an online bookstore to an e-commerce behemoth that sells everything from the latest tech to toilet paper.

Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, recently made headlines after a video of the pair talking to Leonardo DiCaprio went viral.

 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down as company CEO on February 2 and announced that Andy Jassy will replace him
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down as company CEO on February 2 and announced that Andy Jassy will replace himCredit: EPA

Who is Jeff Bezos?

Jeff Bezos is the founder and former CEO of online marketplace Amazon.

The businessman studied electrical engineering and computer science at Princeton University before working on Wall Street.

In 1994, Bezos, 57, founded Amazon from a garage - five years later he was named Time magazine's person of the year.

As well as Amazon, the tech giant is the founder of Blue Origin, a company working to develop commercial space travel.

Blue Origin sent its first crewed mission into space on July 20, 2021. Jeff Bezos was one of the four crew members on the ten-minute trip.

On October 13, 2021, Bezos returned to space with former Star Trek actor, William Shatner.

He also owns the Washington Post and is a volunteer firefighter.

Bezos is a massive Star Trek fan and had a cameo in the last movie, playing an alien Starfleet official.

On February 2, 2021, Bezos announced that he would step down as CEO of the online retail giant and will be replaced by Andy Jassy.

On Monday, July 5, Bezos officially stepped down as CEO of the company. He will serve as executive chair of Amazon.

Jassy joined the company in 1997 and has led Amazon’s Web Services cloud team.

In a letter to employees announcing the move, Bezos said: “I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO.

“In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives.

Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have."

Bezos added: "He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.”

What is Bezos' net worth?

Jeff Bezos is estimated to be worth over $203billion and is on track to becoming the world's first trillionaire.

While the financial future looked bleak for many throughout the coronavirus crisis, it has never looked better for Bezos who has become even richer during the pandemic.

Amazon is now worth $1.75trillion.

It helped Bezos see his fortune grow by another $6.4billion.

Using data from the last five years of the Forbes Rich List, Comparisun worked out that Bezos' annual growth rate will make him a trillionaire in 2026 - when he is 62 years old.

The Amazon founder, who owns about 16 percent of the business' shares, was first featured in the Forbes rich list in 1998.

He also owns a staggering amount of property, including a ranch with a space station.

Is he the richest man in the world?

It is believed he became the world's wealthiest man in 2018, unseating Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

He also became the richest man in history when his net worth reached $105.5billion.

It made him the first person to amass a 12-digit fortune since Gates, who has given more than $60billion to charity, achieved the feat in 1999.

 Bezos was hailed as the richest man in the world in 2018
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Bezos was hailed as the richest man in the world in 2018Credit: Getty Images - Getty

When did Bezos found Amazon?

Bezos wrote down the business plan for Amazon during a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle in 1994.

He initially set up the company in his garage after leaving his job at the hedge fund.

In May 2016, Bezos sold slightly more than one million shares of his holdings in the company for $671million.

On August 4, 2016, he sold one million of his shares at a value of $756.7million.

The company has been accused of mistreating its employees, and Bezos was at one point asked to testify before Congress about certain allegations.

Who is Bezos' girlfriend?

Jeff Bezos has become a fixture in the tabloids with entertainment reporter Lauren Sanchez.

The two recently made headlines following a run-in with Leonardo DiCaprio at LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles.

A video from the event went viral, showing the couple laughing with the seasoned actor. At one point, Sanchez puts her arm around DiCaprio, embracing him in a side hug.

Popular media account, Barstool Sports, posted a clip of the video to Twitter with the caption:

"Leo is Mr. Steal Yo Girl."

Bezos responded with a joke of his own on Monday, November 8, 2021.

The billionaire responded to Barstool's tweet, adding a photo of himself standing next to a sign that reads "DANGER! Steep Cliff - Fatal Drop".

Alongside the picture, Bezos wrote "Leo, come over here, I want to show you something… @LeoDiCaprio".

In 2019, Bezos and wife MacKenzie revealed in a joint statement that their 25-year marriage was over.

He had wed the novelist in 1993 after meeting while working at a New York hedge fund.

They went on to have four children together.

The divorce between the pair was finalized in April 2019, with Jeff keeping 75 percent of the couple's stock - amounting to about $99billion.

Sanchez said her family did not have much money when she was growing up in New Mexico.

"We came from nothing," Sanchez told the Hollywood Reporter in 2017.

"I used to sleep in the back of my grandmother’s car when she would go clean houses, and I've been fortunate enough to have a career."

"Working is part of my DNA. I enjoy it, and now I want to give back."

 

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