Amazon founder Jeff Bezos overtakes Carlos Slim as fourth richest person in the world

Amazon’s shares have buoyed by a 113 per cent this year

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos (Getty)

Jeff Bezos has become the fourth richest person in the world, after the value of his company’s stock rose on Tuesday, surpassing Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim.

Amazon’s 51-year-old founder now has a net worth of $58.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which ranks the world’s 400 richest people.

From $310.3 at the end of 2014 to $659.7 at the close of trading last night, Amazon’s shares have buoyed by a 113 per cent this year – earning Bezos $29.6 billion since January 1, according to the Index.

Amazon shares jumped last month after the company posted a 23 per cent rise in net sales in the third quarter of 2015, with a net income rising to $79 billion.

This was not the best year for Carlos Slim, the world’s richest person until May 2013, who lost $15.4 billion in 2015 and now ranks fifth with a (still considerable) net worth of $57.2 billion.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates remains the world’s richest, with a net worth of $85 billion, according to the index.

Amazon recently introduced a new $50 Fire tablet (£50 in the UK) that Bezos claimed “sets a new bar for what customers should expect from a low-cost tablet.”

The online retail giant is now getting ready for Black Friday. It expects to top last year's shopping day performance, when more than 5.5 millions items sold, at a rate of around 64 items per second.

The world’s 400 richest people control a combined net worth of $4 trillion, more than the gross domestic product of every country on Earth except the US, China and Japan, according to Bloomberg.

Here are the top 10 richest men in the world according Bloomberg.

1. Bill Gates – Net worth $ 85 billion

Bill Gates is worth $85bn (Getty)

The world's richest person is co-founder and technology adviser of Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker. Net worth: $ 85 billion.

2. Amancio Ortega – Net worth 73.7 billion

Amancio Ortega (Getty Images)

Europe's richest person owns 59 percent of Inditex, the world's largest clothing retailer and parent of the Zara chain. The Arteixo, Spain-based company operates more than 6,600 stores and had revenue of 18.1 billion euros ($23.8 billion) in the year ended January 2015.

3. Warren Buffet – Net worth $63.2 billion

Over the past few decades, wealth has become more concentrated in the hands of a few global elite (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for FORTUNE)

Buffett is the chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, an Omaha, Nebraska-based company that runs a diverse collection of businesses, including insurance (Geico), manufacturing (Clayton Homes), energy (MidAmerican Energy) and service (NetJets). It also owns stakes in Coca-Cola, American Express and Wells Fargo.

4. Jeff Bezos Net worth $58.2 billion

19. Jeff Bezos - Net worth: $25.2 billion; Country: U.S; Source of wealth: Amazon.com (AFP)

Bezos is the chairman and largest shareholder of Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer.

5. Carlos Slim – Net worth $57.2 billion

Mexico's richest man controls America Movil, the largest mobile-phone operator in the Americas.

6. Charles Koch – Net worth $ 52 billion

(Getty)

Koch is chairman and chief executive officer of Koch Industries, the second-largest closely held business in the U.S.

7. David Koch - Net worth $52 billion

David Koch, along with his brother Charles, are members of the political network backing the summer canvassing (Reuters)

Charles’ brother, he is a board member and executive vice president of Koch Industries.

8. Mark Zuckerberg – Net worth $47.1 billion

Zuckerberg is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Facebook, the world's largest social-networking company.

9. Larry Ellison - Net worth $42.6 billion

(Getty)

Ellison is the founder and largest shareholder of Oracle, the world's biggest database company.

10. Larry Page - Net worth $39 billion

(AP)

Page is chief executive officer of Alphabet, the holding company that owns Google, the world's largest search engine operator that he co-founded in 1998.