Amazon, the global e-commerce behemoth, has brought incomparable scale to online retailing. In turn, it has brought incomparable wealth to its founder, Jeff Bezos.
As of Monday's market close, Bezos was worth more than $104 billion, making him the world's richest person—at least when not factoring in inflation—since Forbes began tracking global wealth 30 years ago. In two years, his net worth has risen by over $50 billion, more than the gross domestic product of Iceland, Belize or Monaco over the same period.
Yet Bezos is not truly the wealthiest person ever, despite numerous reports to the contrary. As just one example, on an inflation-adjusted basis, Bill Gates has previously been worth far more. In April 1999, for instance, Gates’ net worth eclipsed $100 billion as Microsoft shares topped out at the apex of the dot-com bubble. That fortune would be worth roughly $150 billion in today’s dollars.
Gates, who is now worth an estimated $92 billion, would also be far richer if he had not given about $36 billion of Microsoft stock to charity over time, mostly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the planet’s largest private philanthropic foundation.
Bezos’ fortune is nonetheless staggering, and he may well top the list of The World’s Billionaires for the first time when Forbes unveils the 2018 ranking in March. Unless Amazon’s share price unexpectedly collapses, he will have the highest-ever net worth of anyone to appear on the ranks, and by a wide margin.
For context, here are the top members of Forbes' list of The World's Billionaires in each of the last twenty years. Also included are their net worths adjusted for inflation through November 2017, based on the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
| Year | Name | Net worth | Adjusted net worth |
| 2017 | Bill Gates | $86 billion | $87 billion |
| 2016 | Bill Gates | $75 billion | $77.7 billion |
| 2015 | Bill Gates | $79.2 billion | $82.7 billion |
| 2014 | Bill Gates | $76 billion | $79.3 billion |
| 2013 | Carlos Slim Helú | $73 billion | $77.4 billion |
| 2012 | Carlos Slim Helú | $69 billion | $74.2 billion |
| 2011 | Carlos Slim Helú | $74 billion | $81.7 billion |
| 2010 | Carlos Slim Helú | $53.5 billion | $60.6 billion |
| 2009 | Bill Gates | $40 billion | $46.4 billion |
| 2008 | Warren Buffett | $62 billion | $71.6 billion |
| 2007 | Bill Gates | $56 billion | $67.3 billion |
| 2006 | Bill Gates | $50 billion | $61.7 billion |
| 2005 | Bill Gates | $50 billion | $63.8 billion |
| 2004 | Bill Gates | $46 billion | $60.6 billion |
| 2003 | Bill Gates | $40.7 billion | $54.5 billion |
| 2002 | Bill Gates | $52.8 billion | $72.8 billion |
| 2001 | Bill Gates | $58.7 billion | $82.2 billion |
| 2000 | Bill Gates | $60 billion | $86.5 billion |
| 1999 | Bill Gates | $90 billion | $134.6 billion |
| 1998 | Bill Gates | $51 billion | $77.6 billion |
