Amazon loses $134 billion in market value as its share price slumped 8.8%, Jeff Bezos loses $15.2 billion of net worth

Amazon shares slipped 8.8 percent on August 2, due to the broader market trend, and erased $134 billion of the tech company's market value, Bloomberg reported.

Billionaire founder Jeff Bezos, himself — one of the richest people on earth — saw $15.2 billion of his net worth removed to settle at a still pretty $191.5 billion, due to the share slump, as per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index (BBI).

Notably, this is the third-worst such wipeout for Bezos, after he lost $36 billion in April 2019 following divorce announcement, and later in April 2022, when Amazon shares slipped 14 per cent, it added.

Broader Market Sell-off

The Nasdaq 100 Index slipped 2.4 per cent, and with it the wealth of tech billionaires such as Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Elon Musk, who each lost $4.4 billion and $6.6 billion respectively, Bloomberg reported. Others big names like Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg also lost over $3 billion of net worth each, as their company shares tumbled during trade.

As per the BBI, tech billionaires collectively saw $68 billion of net worth wiped out on Friday (August 2).

In the past three weeks, the markets have wiped over $2 trillion worth due to some disappointing earnings reports, “jitters” over whether the artificial intelligence (AI) craze was overhyped and concentrated for investments, and wait-and-watch for the United States Federal Reserve's rate cut announcement, the report noted.

For Amazon, shares slumped after its earnings call, which outlined plans for continued spend on AI, even at the cost of short-term profits, it added.

World's Second Richest Man

Second only to Musk in terms of personal wealth, 60-year-old Bezos has “steadily” sold Amazon shares through the year, Bloomberg noted. In February he off-loaded Amazon stock worth $8.5 billion over a nine-day period. Last month, in July, he further announced plans to sell more 25 million shares worth $5 billion, it added.

Overall, through the year, Bezos would have sold as much as $13.5 billion worth of Amazon stock in 2024 (including planned sales), Bloomberg calculated. Once the sell-off is completed, he would still retain 912 million shares or 8.8 per cent of the company.

Besides Amazon, Bezos also owns space-exploration company Blue Origin and news publication the Washington Post.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)