There's been a shakeup near the top of the list of the richest women in the world. Thanks to continuing surges in the stock price of Amazon, MacKenzie Bezos is moving up the ranks. Just two months ago, we published an article about the richest women in the world right now. That was on April 22. MacKenzie was worth $37 billion at that point. Then, just two weeks ago, we published an article about MacKenzie's net worth topping $50 billion for the first time. Today MacKenzie is several steps closer to becoming the richest woman in the world.
Thanks to that surge in Amazon's stock, MacKenzie Bezos is now worth $55.1 billion. That makes her the second richest in the world behind L'Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers. For what it's worth, it was only a month ago that Francoise jumped Alice Walton to become the richest woman in the world with $61 billion. Alice Walton is now the third richest woman in the world with $54 billion. Julia Flesher-Koch is fourth with $51 billion.
Top 4 Richest Women In the World:
#1: Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers – $61 billion
#2: MacKenzie Bezos – $55.1 billion
#3: Alice Walton – $54 billion
#4: Julia Flesher-Koch – $51 billion
When MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos divorced, she received 20 million shares of Amazon in the divorce settlement. At the time of their divorce those shares were worth $38 billion.
It's only been a bit over a year since their divorce was final and her net worth has swelled by $17 billion. She's less than $6 billion behind Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers now. Does anyone want to guess when MacKenzie will surpass her to become the richest woman in the world—which is also the space her ex-husband occupies on the men's version of the list.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos divorced in 2019 after 26 years of marriage. This was shocking as it seemed to come out of the blue. Even more, their love story was so inspirational. They met at work. They both were Princeton alums. Jeff was a vice president at the firm. He was the first person to interview her. MacKenzie and Bezos had offices near each other. She could hear him laughing all day long and once told Vogue that she fell in love with his laugh. MacKenzie made the first move and asked Jeff out. They went to lunch. Three months later they were engaged and six months after their first date they were married. After they were married, Jeff told his new wife about his idea for Amazon. Within a year, the couple had quit their jobs, packed their bags, and set out on a cross country trip to Seattle during which Jeff wrote the business plan for Amazon. She became one of Amazon's earliest employees when she took a job as an accountant.
Let's be real here, if there had been no MacKenzie Tuttle Bezos in Jeff Bezos' life, Amazon might not be a thing at all, let alone the behemoth company it is today that has made both Bezos' two of the wealthiest people in the world. Jeff Bezos' net worth right now is a truly astonishing $165 billion.
Richest Woman In The World?
In June, an analyst at the Royal Bank of Canada raised the price target of Amazon to $3,300. If that happens, MacKenzie will be worth $64 billion. Assuming the current fortunes of Alice Walton ($54b), Julia Flesher Koch ($51b), and Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers ($61b), don't budge, MacKenzie should safely become the richest woman in the world.
