PAAmazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ personal net worth has just gone up, it now makes him much richer than he was last week.
It usually takes someone months – years even – to be richer than they already are. However, Amazon is ripping up the rulebooks and burning down the proverbial school after Bezos’ net worth was jacked up to an incredible $138.8 billion, yesterday (Friday, June 8).
The company is now in a league of their own after Bezos became the world’s only centi-billionaire, becoming $3.3 billion richer within a space of a week.
Recently Amazon made some big boy moves, with their big boy chequebook, after they struck a deal with the English Premier League to stream matches via Amazon Prime.
Seeing as football is the most popular sport in the world, and the Premier League is the richest and most watched domestic competition, it does offer an explanation to Amazon and Bezos‘ ascent up the Forbes list.
According to Forbes, Whole Foods stores, acquired by Amazon last year for $13.4 billion, added more stores to their discount deal with Amazon Prime customers. Analysts also published reports claiming the company is now the second largest in North America, just behind Apple, in terms of market capitalisation.
Bezos currently owns 16 per cent of Amazon, which makes up 95 per cent of his personal wealth. His company’s latest achievement in the stock market means it’s had a significant impact on his wealth.
While Amazon’s share prices may have only increased by 2 per cent, since the opening of the Market on Monday, they closed yesterday at $1683.99.
GettyTheir steady stock rise this year – up by 42 per cent at the time of writing – transformed Bezos into one of the richest people in the world. Forbes latest Billionaires List even has him dethroning Bill Gates.
No one could’ve predicted today’s outcome – not even Bezos himself. Given both men’s positions in 1994 they were at very different points in their lives.
Gates was the world’s richest person while Bezos had just launched an e-commerce bookstore out of his garage in Seattle.
Three years later Bezos would take Amazon public at $18-per-share, and the following year (1998) he made his debut on Forbes 400 list of rich Americans.
GettyWhile Bezos is the richest person to see his wealth go up a notch this week, he wasn’t alone.
Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, saw his net worth grow by an extra $800 million as stocks in retail grew. Nike’s shares grew by an extra 3 per cent this week.
The upcoming World Cup in Russia could be credited, as football fever is at an all-time high. Before their friendly against England last Sunday (June 3), Nigeria saw their World Cup jerseys fly off the shelves and sell out in minutes, reports CNN.
Nike have also become the official NBA jersey manufacturers this season, bringing Knight’s personal fortune up to $32.9 billion.
NikeWith Bezos being one of the richest people in the world, it probably makes sense as to why Amazon Prime’s upcoming Lord Of The Rings series is set to become the most expensive TV show of all time.
Interestingly, the books’ author, J. R. R. Tolkien, was ranked by Forbes as the 5th highest earning ‘dead celebrity’.
Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series at Amazon Studios, said in a statement:
The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen.
We are honoured to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.
Lord of the Rings/New Line CinemaIt’s thought the show, which has already been commissioned for two seasons, will be set prior to The Fellowship Of The Ring.
However, if the first two seasons perform well it’s only likely there’ll be even more coming our way.
If you have a story you’d like to share, email [email protected].
