HomeMarket NewsJeff Bezos becomes world’s third richest after losing $20 billion in Amazon stock plunge

Jeff Bezos becomes world’s third richest after losing $20 billion in Amazon stock plunge

Shares of the e-commerce giant were down by 14 percent on Friday after it reported a quarterly loss and the slowest sales growth since 2001.

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By CNBCTV18.com April 30, 2022, 4:19:17 PM IST (Updated)

Jeff Bezos becomes world’s third richest after losing $20 billion in Amazon stock plunge
Jeff Bezos lost $20 billion of his wealth on Friday bringing him down to the third spot in the Forbes list of world’s richest people. The drop came after Amazon’s stock tanked following a downbeat earnings report. The company’s stocks fell by 14 percent as it reported a massive loss of $3.84billion in the last quarter. As of Saturday, Jeff Bezos’ net worth was valued at $150.1 billion down from $170.5 billion on Thursday.


Bezos is now behind No. 2 Bernard Arnault, the French luxury tycoon whose net worth is estimated at $157.7 billion by Forbes.

The top spot is occupied by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has a net worth of $246 billion and has just acquired Twitter for $44 billion.

Bloomberg Billionaires Index reported similar numbers. The index showed that the world’s 500 richest people lost a total of more than $54 billion on Friday amid the broader market drop.

Most of Bezos’ fortune consists of Amazon stock as he owns an 11.1 percent stake in the company. Therefore, with a drop in Amazon’s stock price, Bezos’ fortune took a hit on paper. However, he may be able to recover if Amazon’s stock price rises again before he sells his shares.

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His wealth has taken a massive blow since it hit a peak of $210 billion last year, making him the world’s richest person at the time as per New York Post report.

MacKenzie Scott, Bezos’ college sweetheart and former wife, who took 25 percent of his Amazon stock in a divorce settlement, also witnessed a $6 billion cut in her wealth dropping to $36.8 billion, according to Forbes.

As per a Dailymail UK report, Bezos has lost about $40 billion from his net worth since the beginning of this year.

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Amazon stunned Wall Street on Thursday as it reported a loss of $3.84 billion, or $7.56 per share, for the first three months 2022. It was in stark contrast to its last year’s first quarter report that reflected a profit of $8.1 billion, or $15.79 per share.

Amazon is contending with higher labour costs following massive hiring made during the pandemic. Also, a surge in inflation may hold back sales for the e-commerce giant this year.

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