Jeff Bezos’ personal fortune was slashed by $5 billion in a single day after the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Amazon.
Antitrust regulators in the United States are suing Amazon for alleged anti-competitive business practices. The revelation contributed to a 4% drop in Amazon shares on Tuesday, and they fell another 0.5% in early trade on Wednesday.
The lawsuit deducted $55 billion off Amazon’s market capitalization, which is more than Ford’s whole value of $50 billion. As a result, Insider estimates that Bezos’ personal fortune has dropped by $5.2 billion.
According to a June filing, Bezos owns around 990.5 million Amazon shares, implying that the ex-CEO’s fortune is closely linked to that of the company he established.
Amazon stock fell after FTC Chair Lina Khan claimed yesterday that the company utilizes “punitive and coercive” techniques to preserve its dominance.
“The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” she said.
“Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”
Despite the eye-watering drop, Bezos’s net worth remains up $43 billion this year at $150 billion thanks to Amazon’s stock price rally, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
He is part of a larger group of tech millionaires whose fortunes have skyrocketed as demand for AI-related equities has surged.
One of the most important wealth drivers this year has been the rally in technology businesses, which has been spurred by investor excitement about the rise of artificial intelligence. Nine of the ten billionaires who have increased their net worth the most are from the technology sector.