Amazon's Jeff Bezos tops Gates as world's richest man briefly

Shares of the online retailer rose 1.3% to $1,065.92, giving Bezos a net worth of $90.9 billion

A surge in Amazon.com shares on Thursday morning in advance of the online retailer’s earnings report has propelled founder Jeff Bezos past Bill Gates as the world’s richest person.
 
Shares of the online retailer rose 1.3 per cent to $1,065.92 at 10:10 am in New York, giving Bezos a net worth of $90.9 billion, versus $90.7 billion for Gates. If that holds through the 4pm close, Bezos, 53, will leapfrog Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Gates, 61, has held the top spot since May 2013.
 
Investors and analysts, in addition to watching Amazon’s progress