Reed Hastings is off to a good start in 2018.

The 57-year-old Netflix Inc. founder has seen his wealth rise 47 per cent so far this year to a record US$4.1 billion on Friday, earning him a spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world’s 500 richest people for the first time.

Netflix shares closed at a record last week as investors continued to cheer results for 2017 that shattered subscription-growth expectations.

The percentage gain in Hastings’ fortune this year is more than double that of other tech tycoons including Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos, Facebook Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet Inc.’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

--With assistance from Jack Witzig