Jeff Bezos: the 'obsessive' Amazon founder and world's next richest man

Bezos, whose wealth has risen by $20bn in five months, could take Bill Gates's crown within days if Amazon shares keep soaring

Just a few dollars more on the Amazon share price and the world will have a new richest man. Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, is on the brink of overtaking Bill Gates to become the wealthiest person on the planet.

Bezos, 53, has been having a very good year. His net worth has risen by almost $20bn (16bn) in the past five months to $85.2bn, putting him just behind Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, who is valued at $89.3bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.