Amazon founder Jeff Bezos briefly passed Bill Gates as richest man in the world

 

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos briefly became the world's richest man today in Forbes magazine's tracking of wealth, as stock in his e-commerce company hit an all-time high.

But Bill Gates the Microsoft founder reclaimed the lead by afternoon, as Amazon's stock fell nearly 1 per cent for the day to $1,046 US.

Amazon shares have been trading at a record high. Forbes said Bezos' net worth was about $90.6 billion US when the market opened Thursday. Gates had $90.1 billion US.