Amazon CEO briefly the world’s richest
NEW YORK — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos briefly became the world’s richest man Thursday in Forbes magazine’s tracking of wealth, as stock in his e-commerce company hit an all-time high.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates reclaimed the lead by afternoon, as Amazon’s stock fell nearly one per cent for the day to $1,046.
Amazon shares have been trading at a record high. They hit $1,083.31 at about noon Thursday. According to securities filings, Bezos owns about 80 million shares, or 17 per cent; those shares were valued at more than $87 billion at the peak. Bezos also owns The Washington Post through a holding company.
Forbes said Bezos’ net worth was about $90.6 billion when the market opened Thursday. Gates had $90.1 billion. Forbes said Gates would have been the undisputed leader had he not given billions of dollars away to various philanthropic causes. Bezos issued a request for philanthropic ideas in a tweet in June, just before Amazon announced a $13.7-billion deal for organic grocer Whole Foods.
The changes in Bezos’ fortune coincided with Amazon’s quarterly earnings report. Shares fell another two per cent in aftermarkets trading as the company reported net income of $197 million, or 40 cents per share, in the second quarter, down from $857 million, or $1.78 per share, a year ago. Revenue grew 25 per cent to $38 billion, compared with $30 billion.