The man who defeat Bill Gates
During the last decades, the founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, Bill Gates, had become accustomed to the first position in the listings of 'Forbes' on the richest in the United States and the world. In 18 of the last 24 editions it had been placed at the top of the podium. Until now.
In 2018, Bill Gates has been relegated by the founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. The publication, which released the ranking on Tuesday, estimates its fortune at 112,000 million dollars, far from the estimated 90,000 million for the CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, located in the second place, or the 84,000 million of the Berkshire Hathaway founder, Warren Buffett, who occupies third place. Until Bezos, aged 54, no other person had surpassed the 100,000 million in previous editions.
And we are talking about the 32nd list of Forbes, with 2,208 billionaires -259 rookies. The fortune of Amazon's founder has increased by almost 40,000 million dollars compared to that estimated by the magazine in March 2017. Bezos founded his online commerce 'business' - first focused on books - in a garage in Seattle in 1994. He has now become a giant with tentacles in countless sectors. The company, which owns 16% of the shares, announced in January that it was going to enter the healthcare business with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan. In 2017, he bought the popular Whole Foods supermarket chain, among other acquisitions. Want to know some more fortunate?
The Bezos empire, which is revolutionizing the way to buy in store and virtually, also reaches the media. In 2013, he bought the newspaper 'The Washington Post' for 250 million dollars. And he even has his sights set on space travel as Tesla's founder, Elon Musk. Through its aerospace company Blue Origin, Bezos promotes the development of reusable rockets that can transport passengers. The founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, once again remains as the first Spanish billionaire. With an estimated fortune of 70,000 million dollars, it ranks sixth in the ranking of 'Forbes', despite having lost 1,300 million.
Considered a pioneer of 'fast fashion', the publication highlights that he owns 60% of Inditex. A listed company with 7,500 stores in the world and brands such as Massimo Dutti and Pull and Bear. It also highlights real estate investments in Coruñés with its acquisitions in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Miami and New York. The second Spanish billionaire is her daughter, Sandra Ortega, whose estimated assets are 6,900 million dollars. In 2013, after the death of her mother and co-founder of Inditex, Rosalía Mera, she inherited her fortune. The entrepreneur and president of Mercadona, Juan Roig, occupies the third position among the multimillionaires of Spain with 4.500 million dollars -600 million less than in 2017. A pity, indeed.
Another one that has also seen its patrimony diminished in 2018 is the president of the United States, Donald Trump. A year after arriving at the White House, the fortune of the real estate entrepreneur is of 3,100 million dollars -400 million less than in the previous lists. Not that he seems to care.