Amazon yesterday released its third-quarter earnings results and completely blew away even the most optimistic of analyst expectations. When the dust settled, Amazon posted revenue of $43.7 billion, a cool $1 billion more than the $42.1 billion analysts on Wall St. expecting. Profit wise, Amazon continued to demonstrate that it can generate a profit, however small. For the quarter gone by, Amazon posted earnings per share of 52 cents, a solid figure relative to EPS expectations of 3 cents. All told, Amazon posted $256 million in profits.
In the wake of Amazon’s earnings report, shares of the company began climbing in after-hours trading. When trading opened up on Friday morning, the upward trajectory continued. By mid-afternoon, shares of Amazon were up 127 points, with the stock breaking the $1,1000 threshold for the first time. And with shares of Amazon going through the roof, CEO Jeff Bezos has since become the wealthiest person on the planet.
With Amazon’s stock climbing to the stratosphere, CNBC reports that Bezos is now worth approximately $90 billion.
This isn’t Bezos’ first time as numero uno. He became the richest man for the first time in July – but his reign only lasted a day. On July 27, Amazon’s share price topped $1,050 and Bezos’ paper fortune soared past $90 billion. But after Amazon’s share price slipped, Bezos fell back to second place behind Gates.
With shares of Amazon showing no signs of falling significantly, it stands to reason that Bezos will be able to enjoy his status as the world’s richest man for much longer than his first go-around this past summer. As for other tech icons who can be found on the list of world’s richest people, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison both crack the top 10.
