Jeff Bezos is getting closer to becoming the richest man

• Amazon shares brushed $1,000 and Jeff Bezos' wealth has soared.
• Bezos is now within striking distance of topping Bill Gates' wealth to become the richest man.
• Bezos would be the first man to bump Gates from his perch as the world's richest man since Carlos Slim in 2010.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Brent Lewis | The Denver Post | Getty Images

With Amazon's stock price brushing $1,000, Jeff Bezos is within striking distance of becoming the world's richest man.

As of Friday's close, Bezos was worth $85.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index. Bill Gates is at $88.8 billion. So assuming that Microsoft's share price remains constant or falls, Bezos needed another $3.8 billion to top Gates.

Amazon's stock gains Tuesday have added another $340 million to his wealth, so he's now just $3.5 billion shy of the richest man title. To get there, Amazon's share price would reach about $1,042. (Forbes' Real-Time List has slightly different calculations, putting Bezos at $84.9 billion as of Friday, and Gates at $88.5 billion but the gap is about the same).

Of course, Gates may soar and Amazon could tumble. And he still has a ways to go.

But given Amazon's seemingly unstoppable march to dominate the web and other markets, Bezos is likely to gain the top spot in the coming weeks or months.

Bezos would be the first man to bump Gates from his perch as the world's richest man since Carlos Slim in 2010. Gates has dominated the list for much of the past quarter century, holding the top spot for 18 of the last 23 years, according to Forbes.

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