Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, became the world’s richest woman.
MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife, became the world’s richest woman, passing L’Oreal SA heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, after receiving a 4% stake in Amazon.com Inc. as part of her divorce from founder Bezos. She is now worth $66.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Also, Elon Musk, now worth $115.4 billion, became the third-richest person in the world, passing Mark Zuckerberg, who is worth $110.8 billion and became a centibillionaire this month, joining Bezos and Bill Gates, the second-wealthiest person on Earth. According to Bloomberg, the 49 year-old founder of Tesla, has seen a meteoric rise in his wealth, with his net worth growing by $87.8 billion this year as Tesla shares surged almost 500%. Also helpful: an audacious pay package — the largest corporate pay deal ever struck between a chief executive officer and a board of directors — that could yield him more than $50 billion if all goals are met. Tesla, a favorite among amateur investors on online trading firm Robinhood Financial, has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the boom in retail investing during pandemic lockdowns.
The gains by Bezos, 56, and Musk represent just the latest high water mark for wealth accumulation in a topsy-turvy year defined by both surging markets and catastrophic human and economic loss.
We cannot continue to allow billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to become obscenely rich while millions of Americans face eviction, hunger and economic desperation,” said Bernie Sanders in a statement. “It’s time to fundamentally change our national priorities.” U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced in August a legislation to tax ‘extreme’ wealth gains during the coronavirus crisis.
