Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is world's 3rd richest man

Bezos has soared to nearly the top on the Forbes' list as Amazon's stock has climbed. He owns nearly 17 per cent of Amazon.com. At the 2016 shareholders meeting, Bezos said that Amazon is the fastest company ever to reach $100 million in annual sales, which it cleared in 2015.

Ortega, the fourth richest man on the list, is the richest man in Europe and the wealthiest retailer in the world. A pioneer in fast fashion, he co-founded Zara parent Inditex in 1975. Ortega typically earns more than $400 million in dividends a year.

"Booming stock markets, higher commodities prices and plain old-fashioned entrepreneurship helped make this a record year in terms of wealth creation around the globe," said Luisa Kroll and Kerry Dolan, assistant managing editors of wealth at Forbes Media.

About 2,043 billionaires (up from 1,810 in 2016) made the list, with an average net worth of $3.75 billion. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India