Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is once again the world’s second richest person, after a brief stint earlier today as the wealthiest individual on Earth. Amazon reported its second quarter earnings today, showing a profit of just $197 million on strong sales of $38 billion. The dip in profit, a drop of 77 percent from $857 million this time a year ago, is mainly due to Amazon’s aggressive investments in its own business.
It does mean, however, that Bezos’ personal fortune, given his roughly 80 million shares in Amazon, will take a sizable enough hit to keep him from climbing back to the top. Bezos was already back at second place at the time of market close today, but strong enough earnings would have clinched him the crown going into tomorrow. Yet Amazon’s stock is down 2 percent in after-hours trading, thanks to the earnings miss, making it highly likely Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will hold onto the title with his personal fortune of $90.8 billion and climbing.
It does mean, however, that Bezos’ personal fortune, given his roughly 80 million shares in Amazon, will take a sizable enough hit to keep him from climbing back to the top. Bezos was already back at second place at the time of market close today, but strong enough earnings would have clinched him the crown going into tomorrow. Yet Amazon’s stock is down 2 percent in after-hours trading, thanks to the earnings miss, making it highly likely Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will hold onto the title with his personal fortune of $90.8 billion and climbing.
No comments:
Post a Comment