Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos has become the world’s second richest person, leapfrogging Warren Buffett and Amacio Ortega, the former second and third richest, respectively.
Bezos’ ascent was propelled by an Amazon.com stock surge following the recent disclosure of the company’s plans to purchase Middle East online retailer Souq.com (SOUQ-COM). Amazon stock rose $18.32 on Wednesday on the back of the announcement, Bloomberg reports, adding some $1.5 billion to its founder’s fortune.
Bezos—who now has a net worth of $75.6 billion according to Bloomberg‘s Billionaires Index—has seen his coffers swell by $10.2 billion in the last year. That’s the third largest gain on Bloomberg’s index outside SF Express Chinese delivery service chairman Wang Wei and that of Facebook’s (FB) Mark Zuckerberg.
He’s still $10 billion shy of the world’s richest person, Bill Gates, who has a fortune of $86 billion.