Jeff Bezos loses spot as world's richest man to Bill Gates

Jeff Bezos is no longer the world's richest person. Photo / AP

Bill Gates has unseated Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for the top spot of world's richest people.

Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft has a net worth of US$110 billion ($171.7b), which currently tops Bezos' US$109b, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

It's the first time Gates has held the top spot in over two years, according to CNN.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gates has added US$19.5b to his fortune so far this year, while Bezos has lost US$16.2b.

Gates' rise to the top has been spurred by a 48 per cent increase in Microsoft shares this year.

Bill Gates is the richest man in the world for the first time in over two years. Photo / AP

Bezos' wealth has been impacted by his divorce from wife of 25 years MacKenzie. MacKenzie is due to keep 25 per cent of the couple's Amazon stock (a 4 per cent stake in the company) worth roughly US$35.7b, according to a securities filing in April.

Ten richest people in the world:

1. Bill Gates (Microsoft) US$110b
2. Jeff Bezos (Amazon) US$109b
3. Bernard Arnault (LVMH Moët Hennessy) US$103b
4. Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) US$86.6b
5. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) US$74.5b
6. Amancio Ortega (Zara) US$67.6b
7. Larry Page (Google) US$64.3b
8. Sergey Brin (Google) US$62.4b
9. Charles Koch (Koch Industries) US$61.7b
10. Julia Flesher Koch (David Koch's widow) US$61.7b