As Amazon grew, he was able to bring other shareholders into Amazon to raise funds to finance Amazon’s development.
Then, when Jeff Bezos took Amazon public on the stock market, he decided to open the capital to the public, which further diluted the shareholder base.
Before his divorce from MacKenzie Bezos, he owned 16% of Amazon’s shares.
After the divorce, he gave 5% of his shares to McKenzie Bezos as part of their divorce settlement. However, Jeff Bezos retained decision-making power with the 11% shares he still had left.
As of August 30, 2020, Amazon has a market cap of $1.7 trillion. The 11% of shares that Jeff Bezos owns represents 90% of his personal fortune.
All this makes him the richest man in the world with $200 billion of theoretical wealth.
