In recent days, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has sold off almost 14 million shares of his firm for a total estimated value of $2.4 billion. His pre-arranged stock-selling strategy, which he adopted on November 8, 2023, is now complete.
The Stats That Explain the Sales
Image Source: english.bharatexpress.com
Bezos began his selling binge earlier this month, first off by offloading 12 million shares, or more than $2 billion worth of stock. He then went on to sell other tranches of 12 million shares throughout the course of February, increasing his total stock sales that month to about $8 billion.
Substantial Financial Impact
This large divestiture marks Bezos’s first Amazon stock sale since 2021. Bezos is still quite wealthy despite the sell-off; his estimated net worth is $191 billion, ranking him third on the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, after Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault.
Tax Implications and Relocating
There are major tax ramifications to Bezos’ choice to move from Seattle to Miami, especially with regard to capital gains tax. After selling 50 million shares under his pre-arranged stock sale plan, Bezos expects to save over $600 million in tax bills by designating Miami as his official residence.
Philanthropic Activities
Bezos is still dedicated to charitable work despite his business practices. Notably, he established the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020 with an astounding $10 billion in funds intended for climate projects, as well as the Bezos Day One Fund in 2018, which supports preschool education and homeless families.
Market Effect and Prospects
Even while Bezos’ stock sales have drawn criticism, Amazon shares have persevered, rising 10% so far this year, though less quickly than the S&P 500 as a whole. An important turning point in both Bezos’ personal financial plan and the trajectory of Amazon has been reached with the conclusion of his stock sale plan.
The latest sale of Amazon stock by Jeff Bezos demonstrates his calculated approach to handling his enormous fortune and tax obligations. Bezos, one of the richest people on the planet, strikes a balance between his charitable goals and financial caution, influencing business and social welfare in the process.
I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person
Amazon founder and Billionaire Chief Executive officer, Jeff Bezos, has advised customers and owners of small businesses to postpone major purchases in advance of the holiday period.
Image Source: mid-day.com
He said that he can tell that the economy doesn’t really look good in recent times right in a CNN sit-down interview released on Monday after reporter Chloe Melas asked if the economy was going through a recession.
Jeff Bezos claimed that if we aren’t in a recession right now, we are very probably to enter one very soon.
“Take some risk off the table, keep some dry powder on hand…. Just a little bit of risk reduction could make the difference for that small business, if we do get into even more serious economic problems. You’ve got to play the probabilities a little bit,” Bezos was quoted as saying.
“If you’re an individual considering to purchase a big-screen TV, you might want to wait, hold onto your money, and see what transpires. The same is true with a new automobile, refrigerator, or whatever else. Just remove some risk from the equation,” he added.
Source: tribuneindia.com
It is undoubtedly not the suggestion you hoped to hear out from a person who owns and manages the e-commerce website which pervades Black Friday sales year after year, as well as it is equally hugely profitable Cyber Monday sale a few days later.
Jeff Bezos’ suggestion came not long after The New York Times disclosed that Amazon intends to lay off about 10,000 employees, many from its Alexa, sales, and human resources sections, in one of the company’s largest layoffs in history.
So, it appears that Bezos will be pinching pennies at the cost of thousands of employees, but likely not his wallet. In another section of the interview, Bezos bragged about how he intended to give away his massive wealth, planning to announce a 100 million USD donation to songster and philanthropist Dolly Parton.
I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person
The former richest man in the world, and the founder of the largest e-Commerce business, Amazon, Jeff Bezos has announced he’s stepping down as the CEO of Amazon. Bezos on Tuesday told its 1.3 million employees through an e-mail that he would be stepping down from his position of CEO of Amazon by the end of the third quarter of this year. After leaving his post as the CEO, he will join as the executive chairman of the board of directors of the company. On the other hand, Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon’s cloud division Amazon Web Services (AWS), will replace Bezos as the CEO of Amazon.
More About Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the world. He is a 57 years old American entrepreneur who founded Amazon on July 5, 1994. The company started as a seller of music and videos and became public only in three years of its founding. Today, the company is one of the biggest players in the online selling and purchasing business, offering major sales in grocery to electronics. Along with e-Commerce, the company is a major cloud computing provider, and the subsidiary that provides the service is called AWS (Amazon Web Service).
Image Source: cnbc.com
Other than that, Amazon’s products and services include Kindle, FireTv, Alexa, Amazon Prime, Amazon Drive, Echo, Amazon Wireless, etc. Last year the company recorded a total sales of $386 Billion, 38% more than its sales in 2019. Jeff Bezos, too, for the past three consecutive years has been named as the richest person in the world by Forbes, having $202 billion net worth in 2020. Though this year he was replaced by the Tesla supremo Elon Musk.
What the Letter Said
Amazon’s current CEO, Jeff Bezos, announced he’s stepping down as the CEO of Amazon through an e-mail. He wrote, “I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO. In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.” In the letter, he talked about his 27 years of journey with Amazon and mentioned all the hard work put by his 1.3 million employees into the growth of the company.
Addressing his employees, he said, “I find my work meaningful and fun. I get to work with the smartest, most talented, most ingenious teammates. When times have been good, you’ve been humble. When times have been tough, you’ve been strong and supportive, and we’ve made each other laugh. It is a joy to work on this team.” He even talked about how Amazon has been helping the world with innovation, and about the rise in competition in this field, that too, inspired by Amazon only. He also wrote that the company like now will be focusing on new products and services for the people.
Not the End
Though Bezos is quitting as the CEO, he will be chairing the board of executives of the company. Also, being the major shareholder in Amazon, he will have most of the company’s operations under his control. On the other hand, the upcoming CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy, has been working with Amazon since 1997 and has played a major role in the growth of AWS. About Andy Bezos said that since Andy has been working with Amazon since the beginning, everyone inside Amazon is familiar with him and Bezos has all the confidence in Andy.
The reaction of the Rivals
Amazon’s major rivals, including Sunder Pichai from Google, Marc Benioff from SalesForcea, and Satya Nadela the CEO of Microsoft, congratulated Bezos on joining as the chairman of the board of directors of Amazon. Sunder Pichai toasted Bezos for his two major projects Day 1 and the Earth Fund through his official Twitter account. Satya Nadela also took it to Twitter to congratulate the new Chairman and the upcoming CEO of Amazon for their new job roles. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce also expressed his joy by writing on Twitter that Amazon could not be in better hands.
Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.
The COVID-19 scare has led most nations to propose a nation-wide lockdown. As a part of this health pandemic, most schools, colleges, offices and industries around the world have been shut. With most governments asking their citizens to shut everything except essential industries, most industries and shops have closed. However, in certain parts of the world, the word critical means different things, leading to various companies staying open even during the crisis. Such instances have led to widespread criticism, with several employees coming out saying that what is happening is unfair. One such example has been noticed in the US, where Jeff Bezos’ aerospace-related company Blue Origins continues to be working as if nothing is wrong. Here’s a look at Blue Origins and why it is angering people around the world.
Unusual
Demands
Not only is the company, up and running, it is also pushing employees to get ready for a test launch. Blue Origins, is allegedly asking their employees to test their New Shepard rocket, which will be put to use to take tourists to outer space. Even with the COVID-19 crisis devastating the US, Bezos seems adamant on getting this done. The company, to test the rocket, is taking employees from Kent, a town with several COVID-19 cases, to Van Horn. This small town in Texas has a population of around 2,000 and houses Blue Origin’s test facility for the New Shepard rocket.
Image Source: Google Images
Dangerous
Conditions
Most employees believe that going all the way to Van Horn puts them at risk of exposing themselves to COVID-19, and then spreading it over there. Since the rural town has minimal medical infrastructure, the town would be in big trouble, were the pandemic to spread there. More than 4 employees spoke to The Verge regarding the operation, choosing to remain silent in fear of retaliation. Not only were they frustrated by the company, but they also could not understand why this was so important at such a difficult time. All four felt that the company seemed to be prioritizing business goals over health concerns for the employees.
On
April 1st, senior management briefed employees on the way they would be
transported to Van Horn and even told them to keep a low profile there to prevent
being noticed. While several employees raised safety concerns when they heard
the plan, the management was quick to point out that noncompliance would have
severe repercussions. Senior Director, Jeff Ashby apparently asked the
employees to think about whether they want to help the leadership or act as a
toxin to the company.
Allowed
to Work
Furthermore, it is surprising why Blue Origin is even allowed to stay open during such trying times. The company is one of the few still operating in Washington, wherein the Governor had called for a stay-at-home order on March 23rd. After this order came out, all nonessential businesses in Washington closed, with Blue Origin staying open, due to its ties with the Defence Department making it an essential undertaking. However, right not the company is not focusing on the rocker New Glenn, which the US Air Force has asked for, to help in launching security satellites. Instead, it is working on New Shepard, a tool they will use to promote space tourism, through an 11-minute flight.
The company hopes to test the rocket on April 10th. However, it is not clear whether the date has been extended due to the difficulties caused by the pandemic. On March 29th, Greg Abbott, who serves as the Governor of Texas, announced a two-week quarantine for travelers from states such as Washington. This could have forced Blue Origin to put their flight testing on hold. However, senior management learned that they could exempt themselves from the quarantine and hence, are planning to go ahead with their initial plan. Even though they might be able to go ahead with its test launch, the company has not announced a new launch date as of now.
Angry,
Confused Employees
Employees
at Blue Origin cannot understand how the New Shepard classifies as an essential
or critical vehicle that needs to launch now. Most of them believe that this
launch is not crucial to the US in any way. While the rocket might carry
research payloads, its primary goal is to ferry wealthy explorers to space to
experience weightlessness. When asked to comment on employee dissatisfaction,
Blue Origins said that it has nothing to say about its internal meetings.
Furthermore, they said that senior management is monitoring the situation and
that they would take the most appropriate step.
Employees are uncertain regarding whether they will be able to follow proper social distancing protocol while traveling. While most of them have to stay in hotels in Texas, they will be huddled together in conference rooms and mission control rooms during the launch. As a response, the company said that they would modify their launch procedure to ensure only a small crew need to be present. Yet, employees are skeptical regarding whether the company will be able to keep people safe, and whether this launch must even be done at this time. Employees feel that Blue Origin’s unhealthy competition with Virgin Galactic, who also plans on taking tourists to space, is making it take rash and unsafe decisions. With Bezos having stated earlier that now is the time to focus on the COVID-19, Blue Origin employees seem incredibly dissatisfied with the ground reality.
Being a cinephile with a love for all things outdoorsy, Athulya never misses a chance to chase inspiring stories or poke fun at things, even when the subject is herself. Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, she is someone innately interested in technical and scientific research. Music reviews and op-eds define her as they allow her to explore different perspectives. Though sometimes she thinks she makes more sense playing the guitar than she does while writing.
Like other past few years, Jeff Bezos is all set for its Mars Conference to be held in the coming week. Every year, Jeff Bezos hosts an invite-only robotic conference in the third week of March, where billionaires, astronauts, and roboticists participate in discussions and debates on the future of AI, robotics, machine learning and other space technologies.
Image Source: geekwire.com
MARS
stands for Machine learning, home Automation, Robotics, and Space
exploration, and according to an announcement made by the company in
January 2019, a similar conference, with the same name will be
launched in June, which will be open to the public. The event will be
held in Las Vegas between June 4th and 7th.
Bezos
is all prepping up for the upcoming event, and like every other year,
the event will take place at the Parker Resort in Palm Springs.
Reportedly, the place has been decorated with the Blue Origin logos
(Bezos’ rocket company) all around. Also, a solar-powered sailing
drone, the Saildrone, has also been spotted at the location.
Since the event is an invite-only, not everyone is aware of which type of technologies were launched in past events. Last year, Bezos showcased a SpotMini robot, for which, he had also tweeted, “Taking my new dog for a walk.” And, in 2017, Bezos released a picture where he dressed up in a giant robot suit.
The
event hosts famous contributors from various fields of technologies,
and last year, the invitees included Mike Massimino (former
astronaut), Adam Savage, and Michael J. Fox, etc. This year too we
can expect some great personalities from the tech world participating
in the event. According to the reports, MARS conference will feature
Andrew Ng, Colin Angle, Aicha Evans, Naveen Rao, Robert Downey Jr,
etc.
The conference this year may be discussing Amazon’s various AI initiatives and the practical application of machine learning. The hashtag #MARS2019 on Twitter may help you have the glimpse of this year’s MARS event highlights.
Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.
Jeff Bezos is an entrepreneur, computer scientist, an e-commerce pioneer and has a passion for space exploration. He is the founder of Blue Origin, Amazon and is an investor in many other businesses. Jeff Bezos was born to a teenage mother, Jackie and Ted Jorgenson, a circus performer his biological father on January 12th 1964. He however grew up knowing that his father was Mike Bezos, a Cuban immigrant who married his mother when Jeff was still young. He only found out about his real father when he was 10. He cared less and his father has never really looked for him.
Jeff’s mechanical talent was seen from early in his life. When he was a toddle, he dismantled his crib with a screw driver so he could sleep in a regular bed. In his teen years, Jeff made an electric alarm with the aim of keeping his siblings from his room. His parents even had to let him use the garage for his science projects. Growing up, Jeff spent his summer vacations at his grandfather’s ranch. The maternal grandfather has been a role model to Jeff and taught his the farm work and piqued his interest in science even more.
Jeff Bezos schooled at the River Oaks Elementary School, Miami Palmetto Senior High School and finally at the Princeton University. He excelled throughout his school life and crowned it with two degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Princeton.
After school, Bezos joined the startup company named Fitel where he applied his skills in computer science. He later quit Fitel and later joined the D.E Shaw where he rose to the position of Vice President in four years. At this hedge fund he met the love of his life, MacKenzie Tuttle who was a research associate there. She is currently the wife to Jeff and a novelist. It was also while working as VP at the D.E Shaw that the idea of starting Amazon came to him. While he was looking for new ventures for the company he worked for then, he saw a statistic that made him interested in internet. It was shown that the World Wide Web was growing by 2300% a month. He immediately saw the potential prospects of selling online and quit his job.
Jeff Bezos began his first business while in school. It was an educational summer camp called the Dream Institute. He charged $600 per person and was able to enroll 6 people. Not bad for a school going child!
Amazon did not begin as what it is now. When it was born in 1994, Jeff wanted it to be an online book store. He thought of the details of the business and called up friend and family who would invest in the business while his wife was driving them to Seattle. He raised $1 million in capital and set up the business in his new home’s garage. The company was initially called Cadabra then it changed to MakeItSo.com, aard.com, awake.com, Bookmall.com, Relentless.com and Browse.com before finally settling for Amazon.com named after the largest river in the world.
Amazon was set up in July 1995 and within a month there were sales in all the 50 states and in 45 foreign countries. Within three years, the company grew to 3,000 employees making over $610 million in sales. However, the company was not making money yet. In 1997, they actually has a $30 million loss and $1,23 million loss in 1998. According to Jeff the company’s aim was to be customer centric company, not making profit. This strategy helped the company survive the dot com burst that killed many startups. In 1998 Jeff Bezos invested $250,000 in Google.
2001 was the first time the company recorded a profit of $5million on $1 billion revenues. Since then Amazon has grown more and more selling everything and with current revenues of $107 billion as of 2016. Jeff owns 18% of Amazon. Amazon today owns Amazon cloud and web services. Amazon launched its cloud services years before Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure. Jeff Bezos also founded aerospace company called the Blue Origin in 2014. This has been quite a success with many achievements including the launch of a reusable rocket recently. The company is working towards making space travel possible for the general public.
In 2013, Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post for $250 million. This has since grown surpassing the New York Times as the leader in daily unique visits. Jeff Bezos is currently the third richest man in the world with a value of $65.3 billion with only Bill Gates and Amanda Ortega worth more than him.
