Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could beat Bill Gates to become first trillionaire in the world

Picture: Bill Gates, chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation participates in a panel talk at the 2017 Munich Security Conference on February 17, 2017 in Munich, Germany/: Johannes Simon/Getty Images

With a net worth of $87bn (£67bn), Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, and is currently in pole position in the race to become the first trillionnaire.

However for the first time ever, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos temporarily passed the $80bn mark thanks to stockmarket trading, putting him just $5bn dollars shy of Gates’ fortune, Bloomberg reported.

The wealth of both businessmen is currently on an upward trajectory, with Mr Bezos’ wealth having grown by $65bn in the last five years.

According to research conducted by the charity Oxfam, the world is set to have its first trillionnaire within the next 25 years.

The wealth growth rate of the richest strata of society has been running at approximately 11 per cent per year since 2009.

One thing preventing Mr Gates from achieving trillionnaire status may be his decision to give a lot of his money away.

Mr Gates donated more than $30bn to his philanthropic foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and as of January 2017, he has given $35bn to causes that fight global issues like poverty and disease.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the richest man in the world is currently Bill Gates, with a net worth of $87.2bn followed by Spanish businessman Amancio Ortega in second place with $80bn. Jeff Bezos occupies third place with $79.6bn.