Jeff Bezos’s Path to Becoming the Richest Person on Earth (Bloomberg)

King for a day -- see the full article for a historical chart

"Jeff Bezos’s stake in Amazon.com Inc. has soared nearly fivefold since the online retailer’s public debut two decades ago and hit as high as $86.5 billion just before noon Thursday in New York. Amazon’s intraday price catapulted him past Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates as the world’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. By the end of regular trading, Bezos had slipped back to second place, behind Gates. Over the years, Seattle-based Amazon has expanded its product offerings and global footprint, introducing the Kindle book reader, adding cloud computing services, producing original television and film programming and selling the home voice recognition product Echo. A more than 200 percent surge in the value of Bezos’s stake in the past two years hands the company founder the largest net worth increase among the world’s five richest people."

Jeff Bezos’s Path to Becoming the Richest Person on Earth