- The net worth of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos grew by $ 72.7 billion in 2020, increasing 63.3% over the year.
- Bezos’ net wealth grew as Amazon’s stock skyrocketed during the pandemic.
- The billionaire was criticized for not adequately rewarding Amazon’s frontline employees, with more than 4,000 Amazon warehouse employees relying on food stamps.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
In 2020, the rich became richer.
That includes the richest man in the world, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. As of Monday, Bezos’ net worth had grown by $ 72.7 billion, 63.3% over the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Here is a chart that puts the billions of Bezos in perspective. To remember, Bezos started the year as the richest man in the world. The $ 72.7 billion he earned this year adds to the $ 116 billion he was worth at the end of 2019.
Business Insider took note of Bezos’ net worth, as estimated by Bloomberg, on the 1st and 15th of each month until December 1st. This helped to prevent exaggerated spikes and falls in Bezos’ equity, as he and other billionaires regularly earn or lose billions of dollars in a single day.
Bloomberg provides some useful comparisons for Bezos’ net worth, which is 2.7 million times the average household income in the United States. For example, your wealth equals almost 8% of all home sales in the United States. Its earnings this year alone are greater than the annual GDP of Costa Rica or Lithuania.
Bezos’ net wealth increased until 2020, as Amazon’s stock skyrocketed due to increased online purchases. Eugene Kim of Business Insider reports that Bezos is back in the trenches during the pandemic, taking a more practical approach while COVID-19 disrupts business.
Read More: Jeff Bezos is back in the Amazon trenches. Insiders describe working with a CEO more deeply involved.
Critics criticized Bezos for not adequately rewarding Amazon’s frontline workers during the pandemic. Bloomberg recently reported that more than 4,000 employees at the company’s warehouse receive food stamps, although Bezos’ net worth has grown by billions. (Amazon called Bloomberg’s conclusions “false”, noting that the company pays all workers a minimum wage of $ 15.)
“Warehouse workers went on strike and sued the company during the pandemic, claiming that Amazon did not protect them enough from COVID-19,” reports Allana Akhtar. “Amazon said that more than 19,000 workers tested positive for COVID-19 between March 1 and September 19.”