Even billionaires get the blues. Or at least, they also have extraordinarily bad days just like you and I. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos may not be the biggest hero according to his employees, and he may have been a little oblivious to these feelings, but he has to roll with the punches too. This body slam involves a loss to his net worth of $3.2 billion after third-quarter Amazon earnings came in lower than expected, according to Forbes:
In its third quarter earnings report, Amazon’s net income for the three months ending on Sept. 30 was 52 cents per share, well below analysts’ expectation of 78 cents per share. The news led Amazon stock to initially drop 6% after hours, shaving billions off Bezos’ net worth.
Certainly, Bezos would be forgiven for fainting after this news because many people can’t even comprehend that kind of dollar amount, let alone losing it. However, Bezos is still worth $67.5 billion and still qualifies as the second richest person in America. Yep, he’s riding above Warren Buffet and below Bill Gates. This brief blip of bad news may be just that:
L Bezos was having a record-setting year. In October, he ranked as the second richest person in the United States on The 2016 Forbes 400 list, unseating investor Warren Buffett, who had been No. 2 on The Forbes 400 for the prior 15 years. Bezos added $20 billion to his fortune in the year between the 2015 and 2016 Forbes 400, making him the biggest gainer on this year’s list.
Well, Christmas season is fast approaching, so perhaps Amazon will finish the year strong. However, Forbes points out how the wavering of Buffett’s net worth is an annual occurrence, for he generally donates $2.9 billion to philanthropic causes each summer. If not for that, Buffet would be worth more than Bezos (who’s currently leading by $2.6 billion), but once you’re a billionaire, it all looks the same from a civilian perspective.
(Via Forbes)