The coronavirus emergency is pushing online purchases and consequently enhancing the business of Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos, who increases his lead in the ranking of the richest men on the planet, detaching the other Scrooges. According to the reconstruction of Bloomberg site, in fact, the founder of the most used e-commerce site in the world is benefiting from the travel ban and physical stores closed almost everywhere: has earned, since the beginning of the crisis, 24 billion dollars, bringing his personal assets to a record 138,5 billion. In second place in the early 2020 rally is Elon Musk, who increased his fortune by 10,4 billion.
“The richest person in the world is getting richer, even in a pandemic, and perhaps because of it,” Bloomberg writes, noting that Amazon shares gained 5,3% on Tuesday alone, moving over 2.300 dollars, the highest value ever. This is because, while in Italy and Europe deliveries were (at least until recently) limited only to products deemed essential, in the United States online purchases they've skyrocketed, so much so that Bezos has created an additional 75 jobs in recent days, to be added to the 100 hires already made in recent weeks.
In the same article, Bloomberg also questioned the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on economic inequalities. As is known, in the United States alone almost 17 million people are losing their jobs, while the ultra-rich, with Bezos in the lead, seem to be benefiting from the pandemic. The reason is easily explained: in the case of Amazon, business growth is valid, but more generally, according to Bloomberg, the large shareholders are taking advantage of the large injection of central bank liquidity. It's no coincidence that the combined net worth of the world's 500 richest people is down $553 billion this year, but has already climbed back 20% from its March 23 low.
Returning to Bezos, the rise in Amazon's shares is also making his ex-wife, Mackenzie, richer, who is left with a 4% stake in the company, according to the divorce settlement. His net worth has now risen from $8,2 billion to $45,3 billion, which places it 18th in Bloomberg's wealth ranking, ahead of Mukesh Ambani, India's richest person, and big name Mexican Carlos Slim.
