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Home / Business

How world's richest man Jeff Bezos spends his money

NZ Herald
11 Jan, 2018 09:34 PM2 mins to read

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Jeff Bezos overtakes Bill Gates as richest person ever. Source: Fox Business

At 53, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world, surpassing long-time front-runner Bill Gates.

And with a personal fortune of $138.1 billion, there really isn't much out of Bezos' price range.

In fact, Bezos is richer than 130 countries, according to the Sun.

So what does someone with more than $100b spend their money on?

Very expensive toys

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According to the Guardian, Bezos has a reputation for being tight with his money, and has been long known for being less than charitable compared with other prominent members of the top .001 per cent.

However, when it come to his "toys", the Amazon founder reportedly spares no expense.

In 2015, Bezos spent £48 million ($89.5m) on a Gulfstream G650ER - a private jet that has a range of more than 12,000km and decor closer to a Michelin star restaurant than a passenger plane, according to the Sun.

He and his wife, MacKenzie, are known to take the private jet to Rome for romantic getaways.

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Homes away from home

Bezos' second home in Washington. Photo / Google Earth
Bezos' second home in Washington. Photo / Google Earth

Bezos' main home is an £18.5m ($34.5m) lake house in Medina, Washington, where his neighbour is former richest man and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates.

But Bezos owns several mansions across the United States.

They include two adjacent properties in Beverly Hills, California: one a four-bedroom home with a swimming pool worth £9.5m ($17.7m) and an £18m ($33.5m), 2600sq m that has a tennis court and six-car garage, according to the Sun.

He also owns a second property in the state of Washington, which he bought for £14m ($26.1m) in 2015.

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Fly me to the moon

Like Richard Branson and Elon Musk, Bezos also has dreams of getting into space travel.

He reportedly sells about US$1b ($1.3b) worth of Amazon stock every year to fund his spaceflight programme "Blue Origin".

The reusable rocket and capsule is designed to carry passengers 160km above the Earth.

Safety first

Amazon spent US$1.6 million ($2.2m) on private security for Bezos in 2016. Photo / Bloomberg
Amazon spent US$1.6 million ($2.2m) on private security for Bezos in 2016. Photo / Bloomberg

Amazon spent US$1.6 million ($2.2m) on private security for Bezos in 2016, according to Fortune.

In comparison, Apple spent just over US$200,000 ($275,436) on security for CEO Tim Cook in 2015.

Downtime

Bezos is a huge investor in profitable companies.

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He has previously bought Whole Foods for £10m ($18.6m) and the Washington Post for £184m ($343m).

Bezos has also used his own money to invest in tech companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Everfi, according to Crunchbase.

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