Although Forbes’ real-time ranking of the richest people in the world is constantly changing, you’ll notice that only a couple of names interchange in the top spots.
Recently, it’s Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and luxury goods magnate Barnard Arnault who have been fighting over the first, second, and third rankings.
This close fight wouldn’t have been the case, though if Bezos didn’t make this one crucial decision a year ago.
Alternative Universe
In an alternative universe where the 56-year-old billionaire didn’t divorce his wife MacKenzie, he would easily be the world’s wealthiest person with his successor lagging by almost $100 billion.
You see, Amazon has been making giant gains even during the coronavirus pandemic. Its stock’s all-time high resulted in Bezos’ fortune reaching $155 billion.
However, had he stayed together with MacKenzie, Bezos could’ve been worth $205 billion by now. The couple’s divorce ended with the author walking away with $38 billion.
Making History
If Bezos’ wealth did reach $205 billion, he would’ve been the 8th richest person in the history of the world. He would’ve easily compared to the likes of the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Mellons.
When inflation is taken into account, Bezos’ would’ve topped Cornelius Vanderbilt’s $185 billion fortune and Henry Ford’s $185 billion fortune. However, the Amazon CEO would need to work harder to beat the current richest man in history: Mansa Musa.
The Mali emperor, who is believed to have lived in the 13th or 14th century, boasted a wealth of $400 billion.
But if speculative estimates can be trusted, Bezos may one day make history as the first-ever trillionaire. Business comparison platform, Comparisun, predicts that the billionaire would reach the milestone in 2026.
Bright Future
Concerning that, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) analysts believe that Amazon’s stock would reach the target price of $3,300. This would be a 30% increase from its recent closing price of $2,600.
If RBC proves to be correct, Bezos would add a couple more billions to his wealth and reach $195 billion. His ex-wife, who owns 4% of the company, would also enjoy similar gains with her fortune topping at $64 billion.
If this happened, MacKenzie would become the wealthiest woman in the world. Right now, she ranks fourth just behind Walmart heiress Alice Walton.
Amazon’s stock is currently going for $2,653.98 a share.