#1 Jeff Bezos & family (Source of Wealth: AMAZON)
- Jeff Bezos founded e-commerce colossus Amazon in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. He remains CEO and owns a 16% stake.
- In January, he and his wife, MacKenzie, announced they will divorce after 25 years of marriage. Terms of the split have not been disclosed.
- MacKenzie was Amazon's first accountant. Per Washington state law, she could get up to half of Jeff's assets, making her the richest woman on earth.
- In 2018, Amazon pulled in $230 billion in revenues and a record $10 billion in net profit, up from $3 billion the prior year.
- In February, Amazon announced it was canceling plans for a second headquarters in Long Island City, New York after local lawmakers opposed the plan.
- Bezos owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company that is developing a rocket for commercial use.
#2 Bill Gates
Cofounder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable foundation.
- The foundation works to save lives and improve global health, and is working with Rotary International to eliminate polio.
- Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft -- he owns just over 1% of shares --and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets.
- He remains a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen in 1975.
- In late 2016, Gates announced the launch of a $1 billion Breakthrough Energy investment fund with about 20 other people.
- To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.