How Jeff Bezos built his $200BN fortune to become the world's richest man: Amazon founder made $7.9MN EVERY hour last year and is now worth more than THREE HUNDRED times Tom Cruise's mega $600MN fortune

Jeff Bezos has taken back his spot as the world's richest man for the first time in three years after amassing a $200billion fortune.

Bezos, 60, topped the recent Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time since fall of 2021, surpassing Elon Musk, who is now at $198billion. 

His net worth skyrocketed from $107billion in early 2023 to $177billion a year later, which means he earned approximately $7.9million ever hour last year, according to Yahoo! Finance analysts.

The Amazon founder's wealth is mainly driven by his ownership in company shares, which have soared over 50 percent since February 2023 and are now close to an all time high. Amazon's market capitalization is around $1.75trillion. 

Bezos sold off a total of $4billion worth of Amazon shares since mid-February, regulatory filings revealed, but he is still the firm's highest shareholder, owning close to 10 percent of company stock.

The billionaire, whose net worth is now more than 300 times that of Tom Cruise, also amassed a large property portfolio and has business ventures outside of Amazon, including the rocket company, Blue Origin, and his philanthropic efforts.

He and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez have also been seen gallivanting on his $500million superyacht Koru, flagged by a $75million support yacht, which is effectively a floating garage for his jet skis, luxury cars and Sanchez's helicopter that she pilots.

Jeff Bezos, pictured with his fiancée Lauren Sanchez, has taken back his spot as the world's richest man for the first time in three years after amassing a $200billion fortune

Bezos' wealth is mainly driven by his ownership in Amazon shares. Amazon's market capitalization is around $1.75trillion

Bezos has amassed a large property portfolio. In February 2020, he shelled out $165million for this 13,600 sq ft Georgian-style mansion in Beverly Hills, California, which boasts terraces, guest houses, a tennis court, and a nine-hole golf course

Jeff Bezos's yacht named Koru is seen docked at Port Everglades on November 29, 2023 in Port Everglades, Florida

 AMAZON

Bezos, who stepped down as the company's CEO and took over as executive chairman in 2021, founded Amazon as a bookseller in 1994. The company went public three years later.

He came up with the idea for Amazon after learning that Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year.

He told his then-wife MacKenzie Scott about his big idea while they were driving from New York City to Seattle. They'd been married for a year and had quit their jobs at law firms.

He then founded the company out of the garage of his rented home in Bellevue, Washington in 1994. 

He named the company Amazon because it sounded 'exotic and different' - but also because the Amazon river is the largest in the world and he wanted his online store to be the largest in the world as well.

Amazon shares which have soared over 50 percent since February 2023 and are now close to an all time high. Today the price of a single share is now nearly $178

Scott started working as an accountant and was one of the first Amazon employees. 

Bezos decided to focus on books initially because there was a large worldwide demand for literature and books have a low price point.

The former couple started by forming contracts with book stores like Barnes & Noble to sell their books online, then added from there.

In the first two months of business, while operating out of Bezos' basement, Amazon.com shipped books to all 50 states and over 45 countries. Within two months, the company's sales were up to $20,000 a week.

In 1997, just two years after selling its first book, Amazon.com went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol AMZN with a stock price of $18 a share. Today the price of a single share is now nearly $178.

While initial investors complained that it wasn't growing fast enough, Amazon proved to be a sturdy internet company - surviving the dot com bubble burst and going on to start turning a profit in 2001.

The company has since expanded globally and launched physical convenience stores that uses sensors that automatically charge a customer's card, meaning there is no need for a check-out line.

Bezos is pictured in Amazon's first 'office' in Seattle, where he founded the e-commerce company out of his garage in 1994

Jeff Bezos' own desk in Amazon's first office in his garage is seen above

Last year, Amazon delivered items to Prime members at the fastest speeds ever globally. 

The firm this year is rolling out an expansion of drone deliveries which are already operating in California and Texas. Amazon will start delivering packages by drone in the UK, Italy and a third state in the US.

Bezos stepped down as Amazon's CEO in 2021 to spend more time on his other projects, including the rocket company, Blue Origin, and his philanthropy. His address on the stock filings is listed as Seattle, although he reportedly has relocated to Miami.

In February this year, Bezos filed a statement with federal regulators indicating his sale of nearly 12 million shares of Amazon stock worth more than $2billion.

In the space of a week, he's shed nearly 25 million shares of the company. These are the first shares that he's sold since leaving his role as CEO.

Earlier this month, Bezos said that he would sell 50 million of his Amazon shares by 2025 through brokerage firm Morgan Stanley.

Before the recent flurry of sales, he last sold shares since 2021, the same year he stepped down as chief executive. Bezos has also given away Amazon stock as part of his charity efforts, most recently in 2022.

Bezos' move to sell shares comes as Amazon raked in $170billion in the final quarter of 2023 thanks to a boost in holiday season shopping. 

Revenue in the fourth quarter rose by 14 per cent compared to the same period last year. Analysts on average expected revenue of $166.21billion, according to LSEG data. 

Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is the largest cloud services unit in the world, brought in revenue of $24.2billion in the fourth quarter, compared with analysts' expectations of $24.26billion.

It is also understood that Bezos saw a $70billion gain in his net worth in the past year, which analysts say equates to an increase of more than $191million per day.

PROPERTY PORTFOLIO 

WASHINGTON

Bezos first big real estate purchases came in the form of two homes purchased in his home state of Washington in 1998, which the businessman combined into one estate that has served as his primary residence over the past few decades.

The pair of properties, situated in Medina, an exclusive Seattle suburb also home to Bill Gates, cost the then rapidly emerging mogul $10million, for 5.3-acres of property. 

One of the homes covers 20,600 square feet with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The other is 8,300 square feet with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The latter is rumored to have cost $53million to build.  

The estate with 310 feet of Lake Washington shoreline underwent a $28million renovation in 2010. 

Jeff Bezos's Lake Washington estate in Seattle, Washington. One of the homes covers 20,600 square feet with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The other is 8,300 square feet with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The latter is rumored to have cost $53million to build

Bezos owns two homes in Medina, an exclusive Seattle suburb also home to Bill Gate. He paid $10million for the 5.3-acre property in 1998

CALIFORNIA

In July 2020, Bezos built upon his already extensive Beverly Hills holdings by purchasing the property adjacent to Assylum Records creator David Geffen’s estate - which he had purchased for $165million months before - for $10million.

A considerably more humble abode than Geffen's historic mansion, the home is still luxurious nonetheless by the average person's standards. 

The $165million property, meanwhile, purchased by Bezos in February of that year, is a massive 10-acre estate that boasts a 13,600-square-foot Georgian-style main house, two guest houses, a nursery and three hothouses, a tennis court, a swimming pool, expansive terraces, and a nine-hole golf course. 

The grand motor court even has its own service garage and gas pumps. Another notable feature of the main house is its antique wood flooring, which are imported and believed to be the same floor that Napoleon stood upon when he proposed to his first wife, Joséphine.

Listing photos from 2018 show that Bezos' luxurious $165million California mansion features a large kitchen and several spacious living areas complete with original fireplaces

Bezos purchased this Beverly HIlls home in 2017 for $12.9million. It is just 4,568 square feet with just four bedrooms

Bezos forked out $10million for a Beverly Hills home located right next door to the initial $165million compound. His new purchase is pictured above in a 2018 real estate listing

The aerial shot above shows the entire Bezos compound - which consists of two neighboring properties - in Beverly Hills

Bezos owns two other homes in Beverly Hills. He bought the first for $24.45million in 2007 and snatched up a neighboring property 10 years later in 2017 for $12.9million. 

The first home is a seven-bed, seven-bath Spanish-style mansion with a greenhouse, tennis court, swimming pool, six car garage and four fountains. 

Neighbors reportedly include A-listers Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed and Walter Matthau.

The second home is far more modest at just 4,568 square feet with just four bedrooms.

TEXAS

The majority of the Bezos' land holdings can be found, surprisingly, in West Texas, where the ex-Amazon exec owns an estimated 400,000 acres in Culberson and Hudspeth counties east of El Paso, known as Corn Ranch.

The land was purchased by Bezos for an unknown amount in 2004, as most of the Texas land was bought using limited-liability companies named for famous explorers, the Wall Street Journal wrote at the time.  

The sprawling property includes the his 30,000-acre Figure 2 ranch outside of Van Horn, which serves as a reminder of the summers Jeff spent on his grandparents' ranch growing up, outside the small town of Cotulla.

Bezos bought the home from attorney Ronald Stasny, who reportedly spent millions renovating the gray stucco, one-story property, built in the 1920s. Stasny added a spa in the bathroom, remodeled the kitchen, put in new tile floors, and refinished its posh porches, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. 

The majority of the Bezos' land holdings are in West Texas, where the family owns an estimated 400,000 acres in Culberson and Hudspeth counties east of El Paso. One of the holdings is a 30,000-acre Figure 2 ranch outside of Van Horn (above)

The ranch serves as the home base for Jeff's private space company Blue Origin, which was founded in 2001. Pictured: Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket sits on a spaceport launch pad near Van Horn, Texas on July 20, 2021

The ranch serves as the home base for Jeff's private space company Blue Origin, which was founded in 2001.  

A portion of the Bezos' net worth comes from Blue Origin, which is valued at somewhere between $1billion and $28billion. 

It is difficult to determine the specific value of the company because of the lack of details available about the enterprise, and the fact that Jeff is the sole shareholder, Chad Anderson, CEO of venture fund Space Angels, told Bloomberg. 

Bezos said in April 2017 that he funds Blue Origin through the sale of 'about $1billion a year of Amazon stock'.  

WASHINGTON DC

Bezos owns two neighboring properties in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, DC.

He purchased a $23million mansion, once a former textile museum, in the area in 2016. The home boasts 27,000 square foot of space and was built in 1912. It also occupies a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

He then snapped up a second property, located across the street from the first home, in 2020 for a considerably more modest $5million.

At the time, many theorized that the Amazon head made the purchase primarily made for privacy reasons, as the mansion boasts a direct line of sight into the larger, more expensive residence.

His other big investment in the nation's capital came in the form of the The Washington Post, which he purchased in August 2013 for $250million. The paper is included in his estimated net worth. 

Kalorama is known to be an enclave for Washington power-players including the Obamas, who own a $5.3million home nearby, and Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

In 2016, Bezos dropped a cool $23million on a former textile museum in the exclusive Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, DC

Bezos also owns this $5million mansion in the swanky Washington, DC suburb of Kalorama

NEW YORK CITY 

The Amazon billionaire purchased five apartments on Manhattan's posh Fifth Avenue over the course of three years to form a de facto mega mansion.

In 2021, Bezos picked up a $23million unit in the same historic building where he had already spent $96million on four separate homes. 

The most recent purchase in the building situated in the city's Flatiron District brought his holdings in the building to more than 20,000 square feet.  

Bezos initially bought three apartments in the building, which overlooks Madison Square Park, in 2019, for a cool $80million.

The Amazon billionaire purchased five apartments on Manhattan's posh Fifth Avenue over the course of three years to form a de facto mega mansion

In 2021, Bezos picked up a $23million unit in the same historic building where he had already spent $96million on four separate homes. The most recent purchase in the building situated in the city's Flatiron District brought his holdings in the building to more than 20,000sf

At the time, The Wall Street Journal reported that Bezos’s over-the-top purchase was one of the most expensive real estate transactions in New York City for the year. 

The space, which at the time covered a combined 17,000-square-feet with 12 bedrooms and multiple terraces, included a three-floor, 10,000-square-foot penthouse with a grand ballroom, a three-bedroom unit below with high-end finishes, and an adjoining four-bedroom pad with oversized windows on three of its four sides. 

At the time, it was rumored that the space would serve as a love nest for Bezos and his then-wife of 25 years - until the pair divorced in April of that year.

A year later, in April 2020, Bezos bought a fourth unit in the luxe Madison Square Park apartment complex, dropping $16million for a three-bedroom unit adjacent to the two lower-level units from the original purchase.  

The de facto mega mansion, located in Manhattan's Flatiron neighborhood, is housed at 212 Fifth Avenue, a building which offers a fitness center, golf simulator, game room and movie screening room.

Back in 1999, Bezos, then sporting a net worth of roughly $10billion, made his first property purchase in New York City, snapping up a pad on Manhattan's ritzy Central Park West, overlooking Central Park, for $7.7million

Back in 1999, Bezos, then sporting a net worth of roughly $10billion, made his first property purchase in New York City, snapping up a pad on Manhattan's ritzy Central Park West, overlooking Central Park, for $7.7million. 

The previous owner was former Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola.

The home is made up of not one, but three interconnected apartments in the famed Century building in the city's Upper West Side  

HAWAII

Bezos and Sanchez bought a private Hawaii estate that spans 14 acres and is surrounded by dormant lava fields in 2021.

The three-building estate, situated on the picturesque La Perouse Bay on Valley Isle in Maui, Hawaii, set the ex-Amazon head back an estimated $78million. 

It is unclear when exactly Bezos purchased the property, but he donated to the Hawaii Land Trust in mid-September, which is responsible for the environmental conservation in Maui. 

He and Sanchez reportedly donated to several local charities to feel a part of the community. 

Bezos and Sanchez purchased the $78million secluded estate surrounded by luscious greenery, palm trees, and a marine fishing reserve

The three-building estate is located on La Perouse Bay on Valley Isle in Maui, Hawaii, and is surrounded by dormant lava fields. It is located west of Haleakalā volcano - which is eight times larger than the Empire State Building in New York City - and last erupted in 1790

The property was sold to Bezos in an off-market deal, with the billionaire buying from Colorado-based holding company Lochland Holdings, which is owned by the Schatz family. Doug Schatz, an energy businessman, was the previous owner, having bought it for $4.2million in 1996.

The property is home to three buildings, including its main structure, which is 4,450 square feet and has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. 

The second building, meanwhile, is 1,839 square feet guesthouse with two-bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. And the third is 1,815 square feet with three bedrooms and one bathroom. 

The entrepreneur's new digs also sits on a marine fishing reserve. 

What's more, the eccentric property is also surrounded by dormant lava fields where the Haleakalā volcano - which is eight times larger than the Empire State Building in New York City and its hotspots can reach up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit - last erupted in 1790. It is expected to erupt again within 500 years, scientists say.  

FLORIDA

Bezos snapped up a neighbor's $79million mansion in Florida's 'Billionaire Bunker' in October last year, months after it hit the market for $85million.

The Amazon founder bought the seven-bedroom property in the exclusive Indian Creek Village near Miami, which counts Ivanka Trump and Tom Brady among its residents.

The 11-bathroom home is set across 19,064 sq. ft and boasts sweeping views across Biscayne Bay.

The property was built in 2000 and previously belonged to steel magnate Leroy Schecter, who sold last sold it in 2014 for $28million.

The acquisition came just months after he splashed $68 million on a neighboring property in the same gated island community.

The three-bedroom home was built in 1965 and is set in two acres of land. 

Jeff Bezos purchased a $79million mansion in Florida's exclusive Indian Creek Village last year

 The seven-bedroom and 11-bathroom home is set across 19,064 sq. ft and boasts sweeping views across Biscayne Bay

The property is in the exclusive Indian Creek Village near Miami, which counts Ivanka Trump and Tom Brady among its residents

Bezos' new Indian Creek Village mansion neighbors the $68million home he bought earlier in 2023. The three-bedroom property (pictured) on the man-made barrier Island sits on 2.8 acres and was built in 1965 

It was previously owned by a company with ties to Panama called MTM Star International, which obtained it for $1.4 million in 1982.

The property features a similarly coveted waterfront location and access to the island's private golf course.

The enclave has become a hot spot for the rich and powerful, who are attracted by its plush homes and enhanced security. 

The island is only accessible by a single, guarded bridge and is protected by a private police force that patrols the community around-the-clock by foot, sky, and land.

Residents enjoy access to an exclusive country club and private 18 hole golf course while Miami's South Beach is just eight miles away. 

SUPER YACHT 

Bezos commissioned for the world's tallest boat, called Koru, to be built in 2018 and had it constructed for a whopping $500million. 

The Koru is named after the Maori word for 'new beginnings' and measures a whopping 417ft long and is over 230ft tall.

But the impressive vessel does not travel alone - it is accompanied by a 'support yacht', the Abeona, which measures 246ft, and carries a slew of gadgets, machines and toys for Bezos and his entourage to enjoy.

These include a selection of supercars, motorbikes, smaller boats, jet skis, and a helicopter and landing pad for his fiancée.

Inspired by Black Pearl, the fictional ship in Pirates of the Caribbean, Koru took three years to build in the historic port of Zwijndrecht, close to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, by sailboat specialists Oceanco.

At nearly twice the length of an Airbus A380, it's the second largest sailing ship in the world, surpassed only by the Philippe Starcke designed Sailing Yacht A, owned by Russian fertilizer billionaire Andrey Melnichenko.

Before Koru had even been launched, the vast size of her masts sparked an international controversy when Rotterdam announced that part of the 100-year-old Koningshaven Bridge would be dismantled so the superyacht could pass underneath.

Bezos commissioned for the world's tallest boat, called Koru, to be built in 2018 and had it constructed for a whopping $500million. The Koru is named after the Maori word for 'new beginnings' and measures a whopping 417ft long and is over 230ft tall

The plan was abandoned and the masts attached downstream after thousands of locals vowed to wreck the boat's maiden voyage by pelting it with rotten eggs.

The maritime marvel is painted midnight blue and has gold accents, boasts three decks, a pool and a huge sun terrace where Bezos and Sanchez were spotted sunning themselves on an inaugural cruise to the Spanish island of Mallorca in May.

Not long after, DailyMail.com revealed that the sprawling ship was the setting for Bezos to propose to Sanchez after a whirlwind four-year romance.

Another eye-catching feature of Koru first revealed by DailyMail.com is the polished wooden figurehead on the boat's prow that depicts a curvaceous Roman goddess in a skimpy, low-cut gown.

The ornate carving bears a striking resemblance to former news anchor Sanchez but she laughed off the similarities, telling Vogue that it was modeled on Freyja, the Norse Goddess of love, fertility, war and gold.

Koru is also proving controversial because of the estimated 7,154 tons of carbon emissions it is likely to generate each year.

The boat was lauded as green because of its ability to travel via wind power but researchers from the University of Indiana claim it will pump out greenhouse gases because of its heating, AC, pool, sauna and other luxury amenities.

Koru finally arrived in the United States in November 2023, but Bezos will have to keep his goliath moored in a busy seaport because it's too big to fit alongside the other superyachts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The opulent three-masted schooner was docked at Port Everglades last year, nestling between gigantic oil tankers and the vast Liberty of the Seas cruise ship.

Reports indicate Bezos is charged $16,500 for each week Koru is there - but that's mere chump change compared to the estimated $25 million a year it will cost to staff and operate the ship.

BLUE ORIGIN

Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 to chase down a childhood dream of spaceflight and building a society of millions of people who live and work in space.

In a 1982 Miami Herald interview, he gave after being named valedictorian of his high school, the then 18-year-old said he wanted 'to build space hotels, amusement parks and colonies for two or three million people who would be in orbit.'

'The whole idea is to preserve the earth' he told the newspaper. 'The goal was to be able to evacuate humans. The planet would become a park.' 

The idea of Blue Origin came about in 1999 after Bezos watched the film October Sky, a movie about a school kid who wants to build rockets, and the aerospace company was born just one year later.

Bezos entered the space sector in 2000, two years before Musk formed SpaceX. Based in Kent, Washington, it initially focused on sub-orbital spaceflight services, building cheaper, more reliable, reusable launch vehicles.

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin successfully launched its space tourism rocket in December 2023 following a 15-month suspension due to a previous craft malfunction

Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. and founder of Blue Origin LLC, speaks at the unveiling of the Blue Origin New Shepard system during the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 5, 2017

In 2014, Bezos invested over $500million of his own money into the aerospace company and by 2016, he was spending up to $1billion a year, which was funded by Amazon stocks. 

The firm currently has two launch vehicles, the suborbital New Shepherd, named for the first American in space, Alan Shepherd, and New Glenn, named for John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth.

Bezos has announced they are also working on New Armstrong, after the first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, although no details have been revealed.

Blue Origin successfully launched its space tourism rocket in December 2023 following a 15-month suspension due to a previous craft malfunction.

New Shepard took off on December 19 from the firm's West Texas facility and carried 33 science and research payloads for clients, including NASA and various US universities. No humans were onboard.

Also on board were 38,000 postcards sent in by students as part of a program led by Club for the Future, Blue Origin's educational non-profit. 

The mission's success will means Blue Origin can continue its space tourism program that takes paying customers past the Karman line (the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space).

The Blue Origin New Shepard reusable rocket lifts off from the west Texas proving grounds January 22, 2016 in Van Horn, Texas

They float weightless for several minutes and 'witness life-changing views' of Earth before descending gently under parachutes. 

It's unclear who will be on the next crewed Blue Origin flight into orbit, which is expected to happen next year.

But Sanchez, Bezos' fiancée, has already stated her intention to lead a crew comprised solely of women sometime this year.

In all, Blue Origin has flown six crewed flights – some passengers were paying customers, and others flew as guests – since July 2021, when Bezos himself took part in the first flight.

These crewed flights have included celebrity guests who have flown for free, including Star Trek legend William Shatner.