From left: Smithsonian Secretary David J Skorton with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Image: National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The Amazon tycoon has once again surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the world’s wealthiest person.
Last Friday (27 October), Amazon’s successful earnings report saw share prices in the company surge, adding almost $7bn to Jeff Bezos’ wealth overnight, according to CNBC.
This isn’t the first time that Bezos earned the title, as he was the richest person for a single day in July 2017, but a slip in Amazon’s share prices saw him quickly slot back into second place.
Forbes 400, an annual list of the richest Americans, has seen its No 1 and 2 spots held by only two people over the last quarter of a century: Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. This is now experiencing a shift as Bezos reaps the rewards of a positive quarter for his company.
According to Inc, at 4pm in the US on Friday, Amazon shares were trading at $972 per share, and this increased to $1,041.15 in after-hours trading. Bezos still owns around 17pc of Amazon’s common stock, hence the massive leap in his personal fortune.
Bezos is one of the most powerful employers in the world, with more than 500,000 full-time and part-time staff working under the Amazon umbrella of products and services.
Alexa and AWS proving crucial
Bezos discussed the increased investment in Alexa technology that drove sales this quarter: “With thousands of developers and hardware-makers building new Alexa skills and devices, the Alexa experience will continue to get even better.”
The earnings report also saw Amazon Web Services proving itself to be a crucial revenue source for the company, reporting $4.6bn of its total revenue.
Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired in August, made up $1.3bn of total revenue for the company’s most recent quarter.
With Amazon shares exhibiting few signs of upcoming significant value drops, it seems as though Bezos may be top of the pile for a little while longer.
From left: Smithsonian Secretary David J Skorton with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Image: National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
