Greenback Mountain

Bezos Is the Rich King of a Slippery Hill

Amazon's stock swings could put Bill Gates back on top, with Warren Buffett still hanging around.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest person. But he shouldn’t get too comfortable on the throne just yet.

Bezos rode a post-earnings rally in Amazon.com Inc.’s shares on Friday to take the top spot in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It wasn’t the first time. Bezos was king for a brief moment on July 27, but Amazon shares slid before the market closed and Bezos ended the day in second place.