Jeff Bezos Is a $100 Billionaire

Photo credit: Mike Seyfang, CC BY 2.0.

It’s Cyber Monday, which means it’s time to check on Jeff Bezos’ net worth:

Jeff Bezos is the world’s newest $100 billion mogul.

[…]

The $100 billion milestone makes Bezos, 53, the first billionaire to build a 12-figure net worth since 1999, when Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates hit the mark.

That’s from Bloomberg, which notes that Bezos hit this milestone after Amazon’s stock rose 2 percent in anticipation of Black Friday—which meant that Bezos’ net worth rose by $2.4 billion. (He is currently the world’s only hundred-billionaire, since Gates has made a business out of giving away his fortune.)

Slate, meanwhile, reminded us that while Black Friday was trying to take over Thanksgiving evening (to the frustration of many retail workers who just wanted to enjoy some turkey and pie with their families), Cyber Monday went in and claimed the entire week:

For the first time, the National Retail Foundation’s annual survey now lists “online” as consumers’ number-one destination for holiday shopping. Internet searches are also the top source of inspiration for gifts.

I mean, I’m probably going to buy all of my gifts online too, and most of them will probably come from Amazon. I can get all of my shopping done in the time it takes to drive to the mall, and I can have them shipped to my sister’s house (which is where my family is doing Christmas) FOR FREE.

But even free shipping has a cost:

Store closings in 2017 have now surpassed the total from 2008, at the start of the recession. Barring an extraordinary frenzy of brick-and-mortar shopping, expect to see more news like J. Crew’s Tuesday announcement it would close 39 stores—twice the number the company had planned to shutter.

Thanks, Slate. Now I feel badly about all that Amazon shopping. Bloomberg, do you have something a little more inspiring to share?

Bezos is only just starting to focus on philanthropy, and in June tweeted a request for ideas on how to help people. Since 2002, Bezos has given away Amazon shares worth about $500 million at current prices, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Form 4 filings. The billionaire said in April that he sells $1 billion of Amazon stock every year to fund his space business Blue Origin LLC.

MY AMAZON PURCHASES ARE GOING TO SEND PEOPLE TO SPACE.

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