Jeff Bezos' Wealth Rises To A New High Of $171.6 Billion Amid The Pandemic

Despite losing a quarter of his stake in Amazon Inc as part of his divorce settlement last year, Jeff Bezos's net worth soared to surpass its previous peak. On Wednesday, shares of the e-commerce giant 4.4 percent to a record high of $2,878.70 shooting up the founder's wealth to $171.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bezos' previous record high net worth was recorded on 4 September 2018 at $167.7 billion.

A massive gain of $56.7 billion in his wealth was made in this year alone, widening the wealth gap in the US as the country and the world faces one of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Bezos former wife, Mackenzie Bezos, acquired 4 percent stake in Amazon Inc and now has an estimated net worth of $56.9 billion. The new net worth makes her the 12th richest in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the world's second-richest woman after L'Oreal heiress Francoise Betten.

A bulk of Jeff Bezos' fortune, according to a Bloomberg report comes from his 11 percent stake in Amazon listed on Nasdaq. With the pandemic accelerating, Amazon has benefited from the consumer shift to e-commerce from brick-and-mortar retail.

In fact billionaires, especially whose wealth originates from the tech sector, have seen the biggest gains in their net worth in 2020. According to the Bloomberg report, Tesla Inc' CEO Elon Musk added $25.8 billion to his fortune this year and Zoom Video Communications Inc's founder Eric Yuan wealth quadrupled to $13.1 billion.

On the other hand, Spain's Amancio Ortega, founder of clothing brand Zara, lost $19.2 billion, Berkshire Hathaway Inc's Chairman Warren Buffett lost $19 billion and French luxury-goods tycoon Bernard Arnault wealth was down $17.6 billion.