Jeff Bezos, chief executive of Amazon.com., became the world’s richest person on Thursday. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News)Amazon.com founder and The Washington Post owner Jeffrey P. Bezos on Thursday briefly became the richest person in the world, displacing Microsoft founder Bill Gates. 1 followed a surge in Amazon.com shares Thursday ahead of the online retailer’s earnings report due out later in the day. Gates, 61, who built his fortune through Microsoft, has long been among the world’s richest and had held the top spot since May 2013. The vast majority of Bezos’s wealth is composed of his Amazon.com shares.

Source: Washington Post July 27, 2017 16:17 UTC