Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Reign As World's Richest Lasted Just A Few Hours
Kate Vinton , FORBES STAFF
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ reign on the top of the Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires List only lasted a morning.
Bezos became the richest person in the world for the first time with a $90.6 billion net worth when markets opened on Thursday. But while Amazon stock climbed another 1.3% to an intraday high of $1,083.31, it then dropped down to $1,046 by the time markets closed, knocking Bezos out of the top spot. He ended the day with an $88.7 billion fortune, down $540 million from late Wednesday. Gates is once again the richest person in the world with an estimated $89.8 billion fortune, down $240 million from yesterday.
Despite the drop, this is likely not Bezos’ last time at the top of Forbes’ real-time ranking. Because he owns nearly 17% of Amazon stock, small fluctuations in Amazon’s stock have billion-dollar consequences for Bezos’ net worth. As of the close of markets Thursday, Bezos was only $1.1 billion behind Gates.
Bezos’ net worth took a further hit in after hours trading Thursday when Amazon reported its second quarter earnings and had a big miss on earnings. Amazon reported earnings per share of $0.40, lower than the $1.42 per share analysts had estimated. Amazon stock dropped more than 2% in after hours trading as of 4:45 p.m. Eastern, which further reduced Bezos’ fortune by $1.8 billion. He is now worth $86.9 billion, which means the gap between Gates and Bezos is now $2.9 billion.
Bezos joined Forbes ranking of the 400 richest Americans in 1998, one year after Amazon went public, with a $1.6 billion fortune. He started the online retail giant in a garage in Seattle before his 30th birthday.
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