Jeff Bezos overtakes Bill Gates as world's richest man

Thanks to a 1.8% rise in Amazon's stock price, Jeff Bezos has surpassed Bill Gates as being the highest valued individual on the planet. A $25 rise since this morning has pushed the Amazon CEO's net worth to a staggering $91 billion compared to Gates' $90.7 billion fortune.

Needless to say, there is little difference in lifestyle beyond a certain amount of wealth. Both executives could already spend $1 billion every single year for the remainder of their lives and still have plenty of money left over.

Today marks the first time since 2013 that someone other than Bill Gates will hold the exclusive title of world's richest. The steady increase in Prime subscribers, expanding sales to business customers, and web services all contributed to pushing stock prices up to help Bezos grow his net worth.

Overall, Amazon has had over 40% growth this year. As CEO, Bezos owns a 17% stake in the company, bringing him up from the fourth wealthiest at the beginning of the year now to the number one slot. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman Warren Buffet are both vying for the position, but are nearly $20 billion short, ranking in the fourth and fifth positions.