Amazon boss Bezos expands its position as the richest person in the world
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has cemented his status as the richest man in the world. The US magazine "Forbes" put the assets of the 55-year-old on Tuesday on 131 billion dollars (116 billion euros). This is another 19 billion euros more than a year earlier. Bezos thus extended his lead over runner-up Bill Gates.
Bezos' fortune, however, could shrink significantly in the future by the announced divorce from his longtime wife MacKenzie. The US media speculate that this may be the most expensive divorce in history.
Microsoft founder Gates was able to increase his fortune, according to "Forbes" from 90 to 96.5 billion dollars, defending his second place in the ranking. In third place is the US investor Warren Buffett with $ 82.5 billion. He is followed by the boss of the French luxury goods group LVMH, Bernard Arnault, with 76 billion dollars.
Things did not go as well for Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, whose assets shrank by $ 9 billion to $ 62.3 billion. He fell back from fifth to eighth place.
The Spanish fashion entrepreneur Amancio Ortega, the Mexican media tycoon Carlos Slim and the founder of the US software group Oracle, Larry Ellison, occupy the places in front of Zuckerberg. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg improved by two ranks and is now listed on the "Forbes" list as the ninth-richest person in the world.
14 of the world's 20 richest people come from the US according to the magazine. Two entrepreneurs from Asia also made it into the top 20. The Indian Mukesh Ambani, head of the conglomerate Reliance Industries, is in 13th place. Ma Huateng, who heads internet giants Tencent, is ranked 20th.
Among the world's 100 richest people, nine places are filled by Germans, according to Forbes. The highest of them are the Aldi heirs Karl Albrecht junior and Beate Heister, who together occupy 23rd place. Their fortune is estimated at 36.1 billion dollars (32 billion euros). At number 36, Dieter Schwarz, the owner of Kaufland and Lidl, is worth $ 22.6 billion. Rank 46 is the richest woman in Germany, the entrepreneur and BMW heiress Susanne Klatten with 21 billion dollars.
US President Donald Trump rose 51 places on the Forbes list and climbed to 715. However, his projected asset remained unchanged at $ 3.1 billion. His rise on the list is due to the fact that the assets of other super-rich shrank. According to Forbes, Trump's nine New York skyscrapers alone account for half of his fortune.
