BEZOS’ 4-HOUR REIGN
World’s richest – but not for long
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos — who has dabbled in everything from drones to newspapers to rocket ships — was briefly able to claim a new title Thursday: richest person on earth.
The 53-year-old king of e-commerce snatched away the mantle of world’s wealthiest person from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, 61, thanks to a morning surge in Amazon stock, according to a minute-by-minute Forbes ranking.
Soon after the stock market opened, shares of Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, spiked 1.8 percent — pushing Bezos’ net worth to $90 billion, surpassing Gates’ $89 billion.
But Bezos’ reign lasted only four hours, and by the 4 p.m. close of the market, his net worth had slumped to a meager $88.7 billion, dropping him below Gates — who had topped the list since 2013 — at $89.8 billion.
As of Thursday night, Spanish retailing tycoon Amancio Ortega Gaona, 81, was ranked third, at $83.5 billion, while legendary Omaha investor Warren Buffett, 86, was fourth, at $74.4 billion.
Rounding out the top five was 33-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, at $70.9 billion.
Bezos currently owns about 80 million shares — 17 percent — of Amazon, which he founded in 1994, selling books out of his Seattle garage.
The online behemoth seems to sell about everything — and delivers fast. Last month, Amazon surprisingly went full steam ahead into brick-and-mortar retailing by announcing plans to buy the Whole Foods Market chain for $13.7 billion.
If federal regulators approve the purchase, Amazon’s share price, which finished the day at $1,046, could reach $2,000, making it “the first trillion-dollar company,” stock-market analyst James Cakmak told CNBC Thursday.
Bezos has dreamed up a drone-delivery system that could someday make Amazon deliveries.
But his empire extends way beyond e-commerce. In 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million.
Critics have blasted Bezos’ “Darwinian” style of management and highly technological work environment, which puts more emphasis on algorithms and bots then on people.
Also, some fear that the company is growing too powerful. President Trump referred to it as a “no-tax monopoly” in a recent tweet, and there is speculation among Wall Street investors that it could face regulatory restrictions to its expansion, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Bezos has gotten in on the future space-tourism game, founding his own rocket company, Blue Origin.