Jeff Bezos experienced a dramatic $15.2 billion drop in his net worth on Friday, leading a massive $134 billion decline affecting the 500 wealthiest individuals globally. This significant loss came as Amazon.com Inc.’s shares fell 8.8 per cent, reducing Bezos’s net worth to $191.5 billion, as reported by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This is one of the largest single-day losses for Bezos, second only to a $36 billion dip following his 2019 divorce settlement and a $35 billion decline in April 2022.
The broader market downturn saw the Nasdaq 100 Index drop by 2.4 per cent, affecting other tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Oracle Corp.’s Larry Ellison. Musk’s net worth fell by $6.6 billion, while Ellison’s decreased by $4.4 billion. This downturn is linked to uncertainties around potential Federal Reserve rate cuts and disappointing earnings reports, which have contributed to a $2 trillion decrease in the index’s value over just three weeks.
Investors are also anxious about whether this year’s AI-driven stock gains are sustainable or if the market is too concentrated. The recent plunge in Amazon’s stock is attributed to the company’s announcement of continued significant investments in AI, potentially impacting short-term profits.
Other tech magnates, including Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page, saw their fortunes shrink by over $3 billion each as shares of Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet fell. Overall, tech billionaires collectively lost $68 billion, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.
Bezos, 60, has been actively selling Amazon shares this year, offloading about $8.5 billion worth in February alone. Last month, he revealed plans to sell an additional 25 million shares worth $5 billion. Once these sales are complete, Bezos will still hold nearly 912 million shares, or approximately 8.8 per cent of Amazon. His wealth is also bolstered by his investments in space-exploration company Blue Origin and The Washington Post.
