The founder of Amazon.com Jeff Bezos may become the world's richest person, replacing Bill Gates, after Amazon.com Inc. shares went up by 1.8 percent early Thursday.

The 53-year-old founder of the online retail giant may overtake Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates's position at the top of Bloomberg Billionaires Index if the company's gains are able to hold through the close, Bloomberg reported.

The surge in the shares will add over $800 million to Bezos' fortune, pushing it over $90 billion, the report said.

Founded by Bezos in 1994, Amazon.com entered the world of online shopping by selling books and later on expanded its scope to a wide range of products and services.

Fascinated by the idea of space travel, he founded Blue Origin, a spaceflight startup company in 2000.

He also invested in a number of other companies, including AirBnB, Google, Twitter and Uber.