Jeff Bezos was the first billionaire to reach a fortune of $200 billion, according to Forbes.
Bezos crossed that estimated threshold in August 2020 as Amazon’s share price climbed during a period when online shopping and cloud computing attracted intense investor attention. Forbes’ calculation depended heavily on his Amazon ownership, so the milestone reflected market value rather than a cash payment.
Net worth milestones are estimates. A billionaire does not generally hold the entire fortune in cash, and the value of publicly traded shares can change by billions of dollars in a single day. Taxes, charitable gifts, borrowing and changes in ownership can also affect the calculation.
Bezos later lost and regained the top position as Amazon and other technology stocks moved. Elon Musk subsequently became the first person to pass higher wealth thresholds, but that happened after Bezos’s $200 billion milestone. Forbes’ lists are therefore best understood as dated snapshots.