# Jeff Bezos increases his fortune to a new record

**Date:** 07/06/2020

Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, reached a fortune of 171.6 billion dollars, surpassing his previous all-time high, even after giving up a quarter of his stake in Amazon following his divorce last year, according to a note published in Infobae.

The businessman's shares rose 4.4% this Wednesday, increasing his wealth by 2.878 billion dollars. With this increase he surpasses his previous high of 167.7 billion dollars, set on September 4, 2018, according to Bloomberg's billionaires index.

According to Forbes magazine, Bezos's fortune is valued at 166 billion dollars, which is also a record.

His earnings of 56.7 billion dollars just this year alone show an ever-widening wealth gap in the United States during the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

This week, after receiving complaints about the end of pandemic risk hazard pay, Amazon said it would spend about 500 million dollars to give one-time bonuses of 500 dollars to most frontline workers.

With the increase in e-commerce caused by the coronavirus crisis, the e-commerce company has considerably increased its value. Jeff Bezos owns 11% of the shares, which represents the majority of his fortune.

In second place on the Forbes and Bloomberg list of largest fortunes is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has a net worth valued at 109 billion dollars.

Bezos, adopted son of Miguel "Mike" Bezos, a Cuban who arrived in the United States at age 16 as part of Operation Peter Pan, has asserted his father's nationality on numerous occasions.