Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been ranked as the world’s third richest individual by Forbes, which estimates the e-commerce tycoon's wealth at $65.3bn (£49.5bn).
This stash places Bezos in the upper echelons of global wealth, behind only Bill Gates, who leads the pack with $78bn (£59bn) and Zara founder Amancio Ortega who has amassed a personal wealth of $73.1bn (£55bn).
Bezos’ good fortune stems from a strong performance at the online retailer, of which he still owns 18 per cent, which generated $857m profit in the second quarter compared to just $92m in 2015.
Amazon has seen revenues bolstered by increasing enthusiasm for its Prime membership service, which grants free shipping in exchange for an annual fee and a stellar performance at its cloud computing unit.
Bezos remarked: “It's been a busy few months for Amazon around the world, and particularly in India - where we launched a new [Amazon Web Services] Region, introduced Prime with unlimited free shipping, and announced that Prime Video is coming soon, offering Prime members in India exclusive access to Amazon Original Series and Movies - including original content featuring top Indian creators and talent.”
The business is still hungry for growth however and recently launched an online grocery store in the UK and will even offer student loans to members in partnership with Wells Fargo.