Seattle, Washington: Amazon founder Jeffrey Preston Bezos, became the new world richest, as reported later today by Bloomberg. The heave in Amazon’s shares propelled founder Bezos surpassing Gates. Microsoft 61-year-old co-founder, Bill Gates has held the top spot since 2013.
Shares of the online retailer rose 1.3 percent to $1,065.92 at 10:10 a.m. in New York, giving Bezos a net worth of $90.9 billion, versus $90.7 billion for Gates.
Amazon’s investors will be scrutinising its progress in taking market share in categories such as apparel and groceries. They will also gauge how many new subscriptions the retailer sold for its $99-a-year Amazon Prime service. Prime shoppers spend more than customers who don’t have a membership.
“Amazon Prime is why so much physical retail is going away,” said Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities Inc. analyst who has a buy rating on the stock and a price target of $1,250. “Anyone who joins Prime shops in retail stores 10 percent less, and that number will keep accelerating as Amazon adds more inventory.”
Amazon is expected to post quarterly revenue of $37.2 billion, a 22 percent jump from a year earlier, according to the average estimate of 34 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, and earnings per share of $1.42.
Originally started for selling books in 1994, Amazon was set up in a garage by Bezos. He quit his job after realising the growing power of the internet at the age of 30. Within 30 Days, he was selling for $20,000 per week.
Since then, Amazon acquired 44 other companies with first acquisition taking place in 1998.
Bezos owns about 17 percent of Seattle-based Amazon, which has surged 40 percent this year through Wednesday, helping to add $24.5 billion to his net worth.
“If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”
-Jeff Bezos’ advice for start-ups