• Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth has hit $100 billion.
  • Retail stocks have surged after strong Black Friday sales figures, pushing Amazon stock to record highs and adding $1.7 billion to Bezos’ fortune.
  • He would be the first person in the modern era with a known fortune of $100 billion.

Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, has a net worth of $100 billion after Black Friday buzz sent Amazon stock soaring to record highs.

Retail stocks are surging after Americans went crazy for Black Friday deals, spending about $1.5 billion online Thanksgiving evening.

Amazon gained 2.6% Friday to $1,186 a share, pushing his total fortune to over $100 billion, based on data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He is the first person in the modern era with a known fortune of $100 billion or more.

Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO, owns 78.9 million shares of the tech and retailing giant, according to November filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a roughly 16% stake worth $93.6 billion.

His fortune stood at $97.9 billion after the last stock market close on Wednesday, according to the Billionaires Index, which is updated at the close of every trading day in New York.

With Amazon up 2.6% Friday, the value of his stake in the company would have increased to $93.6 billion - a $2.4 billion jump from Wednesday.

In addition to his Amazon holdings and cash investments, Bezos owns a roughly $3 billion stake in rocket company Blue Origin, and he also owns The Washington Post, which he paid $250 million for, according to Bloomberg.

Bezos eclipsed Bill Gates as the richest person in the world in October.

It's difficult to compare the net worths of today's billionaires with tycoons of the past or of heads of state presumed to have shadowy but enormous fortunes.

Some surmise oil baron David Rockefeller was worth the equivalent of several hundred billion based on the percentage of the economy he controlled, and Vladimir Putin is believed by some to secretly have a similarly vast assets.

But Bezos is the first to reach $100 billion since organizations like Forbes and Bloomberg began tracking the fortunes of the world's richest.