Bill Gates’s estimated net worth rose by $7 billion in 2012, while Jeff Bezos’s rose by $6.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as reported by Bloomberg News. Those figures describe estimated changes in wealth—not salary, realized income, or cash deposited in an account.
How much did Gates and Bezos gain?
| Person | Estimated 2012 wealth increase | Reported stock-market context |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Gates | $7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as reported by Bloomberg News | Microsoft shares rose 2.9% in 2012; Microsoft stock represented less than 20% of Gates’s fortune, Bloomberg News reported. |
| Jeff Bezos | $6.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as reported by Bloomberg News | Amazon shares rose 45% in 2012, a major driver of Bezos’s increase, according to Bloomberg News and GeekWire. |
Bloomberg News published the precise estimates on Jan. 3, 2013, describing the Bloomberg Billionaires Index’s estimates across calendar 2012. GeekWire’s Jan. 2 report also attributed Gates’s $7 billion gain to the index, but did not give Bezos’s exact dollar increase. Bloomberg News report republished by the Los Angeles Times; GeekWire’s report.
What those gains mean—and what they do not
The numbers are estimated changes in net worth, not annual earnings statements. A wealth index values a person’s assets and liabilities using its methodology and available market information; a rise in the estimate does not mean the person received that amount in wages, sold assets for that amount, or held it as cash. The figures here are attributed specifically to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, not to a tax return or a measure of realized investment gains.
Why Forbes figures do not match Bloomberg’s
A different 2012 ranking gives different estimates. The Forbes 400, an annual ranking of the richest people in the United States, put Gates at $66 billion in 2012, up $7 billion from its 2011 list. It put Bezos at $23.2 billion, compared with $19.1 billion the prior year. These are Forbes 400 estimates, not Bloomberg index totals; they should not be combined as if the rankings were one continuous series. Forbes 400 release, Sept. 19, 2012.
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Forbes also published a separate real-time tracker in 2012. Its figures followed up to three selected U.S. public holdings at market prices and excluded private holdings, so they were not a measure of a person’s complete net worth. Forbes Executive Editor Luisa Kroll explained: “These figures reflect the changes in people’s top U.S. public holdings, not their total net worth.” That caveat applies to the Forbes tracker, not to Bloomberg’s index. Forbes real-time tracker methodology.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How 2012 looked across the Bloomberg index
The two fortunes were part of a strong year for many people in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index: its 100 members collectively added $241 billion in 2012, Bloomberg News reported. Still, the increase was not universal—16 of the 100 ended the year with a net loss. Those totals provide context for Gates’s and Bezos’s gains, but they describe the wider index rather than either person individually.
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