Amazon shares are soaring and Jeff Bezos is a whole lot richer

Amazon shares jumped by as much as 10% in early trading on Friday after the company reported its largest-ever quarterly profit.

The jump in shares in after-hours trading on Thursday, which carried into Friday, increased CEO Jeff Bezos' wealth on paper by $6 billion.

The gain increased his net worth to $60 billion, temporarily displacing Mexican mogul Carlos Slim as the fourth richest person in the world according to Bloomberg.

The earnings results showed that Amazon's cloud-computing business is driving its growth. The e-commerce giant's most profitable business saw a 64% year-on-year jump in revenues to $2.57 billion in the first quarter.

Amazon reported $1.07 in earnings per share, crushing the forecast for $0.58. Amazon typically invests in growth at a loss, and so this made the record quarter of profits even more of a big deal.

Revenues rose 28% year-on-year to $29.1 billion ($28 billion was expected)

Amazon's stock climbed to as high as $669.98 on Friday. It has gained 54% over the past 12 months, and was one of the best-performing stocks last year.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.