Jeff Bezos loses his crown as world's richest person as Amazon stock plunges
Disappointing Q3 report wipes around $7bn off Bezos's net worth
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of major marketplace Amazon, is no longer the world's richest person following a massive stock drop on Thursday October 24, following the release of Amazon’s third quarter results, Forbes reported..
Revenue was almost the same as predicted by experts: $70bn (£54.49bn, E63bn) vs $68.8bn. Earnings per share were lower than expected: $4.23 against $4.62. The company’s net income dropped to $2.1bn, down 26 per cent compared to the same period the previous year.
Moreover, the company gave moderate fourth-quarter revenue guidance. The range of $80bn and $86.5bn set by Amazon is far below analysts' expectations of $87.4bn.
Following the release, Amazon stock lost more than 9 per cent during post-market trading.
As a consequence, Bezos, who owns 57,610,359 Amazon shares according to a recent SEC filing, lost around $7bn. Forbes states that his current fortune is now around $103.9bn, while Microsoft founder Bill Gates is worth $105.7bn.
In 2018, Bezos succeeded Gates as the world's richest man as Amazon's business kept growing.
