For the third year in a row, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos topped Forbes' list of richest Americans, while U.S. President Donald Trump's ranking dropped as the pandemic slammed his office buildings, hotels and resorts.
Overall, the aggregate wealth of the Forbes 400 list rose to a record $3.2 trillion dollars, even as the pandemic caused a massive economic slump, leaving millions of Americans unemployed.
"Jeff Bezos is at the top of the list. He's worth $179 billion this year…”
Forbes Assistant Managing Editor Kerry Dolan told Reuters the pandemic had an uneven impact.
"The pandemic has, it's been interesting. Some companies have really benefited. More people are shopping online. Amazon shares have been up a lot. … And yet, you know, other sectors have really, really struggled. The hotel sector, the oil and gas is way down. Of the 25 people who dropped off the list, about 10 of those dropped off related to the impact of COVID on their businesses.”
Another company doing well during the pandemic is Zoom.
Eric Yuan, the CEO of Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM), which has become ubiquitous in the work-from-home era, was one of 18 newcomers on the list with a net worth of 11 billion dollars.
But as office buildings, hotels and resorts – three categories that the Trump Organization owns property in - suffer during the pandemic, Trump's ranking dropped to No. 352 from 275 last year as his net worth fell to $2.5 billion from $3.1 billion.