- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the only one of the world's five richest people that hasn't lost money in 2020, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.
- Bezos made nearly $6 billion in the past three months, bringing his total net worth to $121 billion.
- Since being identified in Wuhan, China, in December, the virus has infected over 820,000 people and killed more than 40,000 across the globe.
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Ultrawealthy people across the globe have lost billions of dollars because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Jeff Bezos's bank account is doing just fine.
Bezos' net worth has soared $5.9 billion in 2020 so far, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows. Bezos is the only person in the top five on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index that hasn't lost money in 2020, a review of the index shows.
Other billionaires including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have seen their net worth plummet as the novel coronavirus caused unprecedented market volatility. The ultrawealthy are often disproportionately affected by market sell-offs because of their equity-heavy portfolios. Billionaires across the globe lost 7% of their collective net worth in 2018 due to market instability at the end of 2018, far more than ordinary 401k millionaires, according to reports from Wealth-X and Capgemini. Only one person other than Bezos in the top ten slots on the Billionaires Index - Microsoft cofounder Steve Ballmer - is now richer than they were at the end of 2019.
Bezos is the richest person on Earth, Business Insider reported. The majority of his fortune stems from his stake in online retailer Amazon, which he founded in his garage in 1994. While other retailers are struggling to make ends meet and laying off employees because of the coronavirus outbreak, Amazon has seen a surge in demand and is recruiting 100,000 new employees.
Bezos isn't the only person that has profited during the outbreak. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan's net worth has risen over $4 billion in 2020 as Americans embrace video conferencing for both work and socializing in order to comply with social distancing guidelines designed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Since being identified in Wuhan, China, in December, the virus has infected over 820,000 people and killed more than 40,000 across the globe.
The Quarantine Economy - Jeff Bezos is the only billionaire out of the top 20 whose wealth has increased this year. pic.twitter.com/HzAlaa7skW
- Robert Frank (@robtfrank) March 30, 2020