Jeff Bezos added $13 billion (Dh47.71bn) to his net worth on Monday, the largest single-day jump for an individual since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was created in 2012.
Amazon shares surged 7.9 per cent, the most since December 2018 on rising optimism about web shopping trends, and are now up 73 per cent this year.
Mr Bezos, Amazon’s 56-year-old founder and the world’s richest person, has seen his fortune swell $74bn in 2020 to $189.3bn, despite the US entering its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. He is now personally worth more than the market valuation of giants such as Exxon Mobil, Nike and McDonald’s.
Mackenzie Bezos, his ex-wife, gained $4.6bn on Monday and is now the 13th-richest person in the world.
Other tech titans are also enjoying a surge driven partly by people forced to stay at home and helped by the boost given to markets by unprecedented stimulus efforts by governments and central bankers.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has added almost $15bn to his net worth so far this year, even as the company deals with brands boycotting ads on the social network.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Rest
(Because Music)
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
