Jeff Bezos has seen his fortune grow by an eye-watering $24 billion during the coronavirus pandemic.
Demand for online shopping has driven Amazon’s stock price to an all-time high, climbing 5.3 per cent as consumers adjust to the lockdown.
Bezos was already the world’s richest person, but now according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his fortune is worth $138bn (£110bn).
The news comes as the number of unemployed people in America grows to 22 million as the economy grinds to a halt elsewhere.
Billionaire club
The Amazon founder isn’t the only billionaire to benefit from the Covid-19 crisis.
Tesla founder Elon Musk added $10.4 billion (£8.3 billion) to his fortune this year, whilst the demand for teleconferencing has seen the fortune of Zoom founder Eric Yuan more than double to $7.4 billion (£5.9 billion).
Walmart owners, the Walton family, also saw a 5 per cent increase in their net worth as consumers have come to depend on the retailing giant for goods during the lockdown.
Accelerating high street demise
There are concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the high street’s demise.
Today Warehouse and Oasis collapsed into administration putting 2,300 jobs at risk.
It comes after Debenhams went bust with 39 stores to close.
Related: Just 6,000 UK loans made to businesses out of 300,000 enquiries
