Jeff Bezos breaks new record as his net worth tops $200 billion

The world's wealthiest man has crossed a new milestone.

Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos became the first person to top $200 billion in net worth on Wednesday, according to Forbes' real-time data on billionaires.

Bezos, 56, owns 11% of Amazon's stock, which has skyrocketed amid the coronavirus pandemic as people sheltered at home and demand for e-commerce soared. In April 2020, his net worth was a mere $113 billion, according to Forbes.

Amazon stock was up over 95 points (2.85%) on Wednesday.

Bezos' astronomical wealth gains come even as the COVID-19 pandemic has walloped the U.S. economy, and highlights the diverging experiences in this pandemic between the haves and the have-nots as the crisis exacerbates income inequality.

The second-wealthiest person, Bill Gates, still lags billions of dollars behind Bezos. Gates was worth $116.2 billion as of Wednesday, according to Forbes.