Amazon founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos surpassed Warren Buffet and Amacio Ortega to become the second richest person in the world. According to a report in Bloomberg, Amazon Inc’s shares rose $18.35 billion (approximately Rs 1,15,916 crore) on Wednesday following the announcement that the e-commerce giant was buying Middle East’s largest online retailer, Souq.com.

Bezos, who added $1.5 billion to his fortune on Wednesday, now has a net worth of $75.6 billion (Rs 4,77,565 crore) as reported on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He remains second to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has a net worth of $86 billion. Bezos is followed by Berkshire Hathaway’s Buffet ($75.5 billion) and Inditex Fashion Group chairman Ortega ($74.1 billion).

Souq.com is considered the largest online retailer in the Gulf and the Middle East attracting over 45 million visitors annually. Amazon had offered the retailer $650 million to acquire the site, AFP reported. “We have a lot of common values and it is all about innovation, technology and the type of customer experience and thinking that Amazon has,” Souq.com co-founder Ronaldo Mouchawar told Reuters.