Gates-Bezos, fight for the second place behind Putin

7 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Jeff Bezos on Thursday briefly topped Bill Gates as the world’s richest man following a spike in Amazon, according to data crunched by Forbes. But if Bill Browder’s numbers are correct, the massive fortunes of both tech giants combined still wouldn’t stack up to the real richest man in the world.

US-based Hermitage Capital Management Founder Bill Browder believes the Russian leader is the richest man in the world.

He made the claim during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in the United States last week, testifying during the Senate's probe into Russian affairs during the 2016 presidential election, according to reports.

Mr Browder is considered to be well-informed when it comes to Mr Putin's business dealings and told Fortune he made major investments in Russia during the 1990's.

“I believe [Vladimir Putin] is worth $200 billion,” the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the same day Bezos made his fleeting move. Browder was testifying as part of the investigation into Russia’s interference in the U.S. elections.

Browder, once a shareholder of Gazprom, Surgutneftegas and other state-run enterprises, is well-versed on the topic, considering his company was once the biggest portfolio investor in Russia.

According to Fortune, Mr Putin has also put a lot of effort into reversing the Magnitsky Act, put in place by US officials in 2012 to track down and punish Russian officials who are accused of murdering a lawyer and auditor who was looking into Russian-state fraud, because some of those officials reportedly hold some of Mr Putin's fortune. 

"Let's just look at it very simply," Mr Browder told CBS. "Vladimir Putin wants to get rid of this act that's going to sanction his assets. It's his top priority." 

Mr Browder who has since become a critic of the Russian state has even clashed with Mr Putin's officials who have threatened him on a number occasions.

Last week Mr Bezos briefly became the world’s richest person as a result of a surge in Amazon’s share price ahead of the e-retail giant’s quarterly earnings report. Shares later tailed off again, however, putting Mr Gates back in the top spot. Mr Bezos owns around 17 per cent of Amazon’s shares.

Both Mr Bezos and Mr Gates are worth more than $90bn according to Bloomberg data, with the latter occupying the top spot since 2013.