Jeff Bezos became the world’s richest person hours after Amazon’s Singapore launch

Jeff Bezos just got some very good news indeed. Photo credit: James Duncan Davidson.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos snatched Bill Gates’ crown as world’s richest individual yesterday after the US company’s stock popped in value. For a time, at least.

There were likely many factors contributing to Amazon’s share price rise, including anticipation surrounding its quarterly results announcement, which turned out to be disappointing later in the day.

The uptick also came just hours after the company launched its first on-the-ground retail service in Southeast Asia, with the official unveiling of its Prime Now delivery service, along with a new fulfillment center, in Singapore.

Amazon’s share price rose by just over 1 percent when Wall Street opened on Thursday. Based on this, Bezos’ net worth – much of which is accounted for by his 17% stake in Amazon – crept up to US$90.6 billion, taking him beyond Microsoft founder Gates’ US$90 billion.

Bezos’ time at the top did not last very long, however. Amazon shares fell 3.2 percent in after-hours trading after it reported a 77 percent drop in its second-quarter income. The company even said it could lose up to US$400 million in operating profit during the current quarter. Gates reclaimed the number one spot he has held for 18 of the past 23 years.

It’s also worth mentioning that Gates has given away over US$31 billion of his fortune to philanthropic causes. As Forbes reports, had he not done this, Bezos would still be far from matching his wealth.