Will the World's Richest Person Change?...Amazon Founder Selling 50 Million Treasury Shares [Song Seungseop's Financial Light]

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon Photo by AP

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Who is the richest person on Earth? The names of famous entrepreneurs probably come to mind. Currently, it is Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla. However, the world's richest person ranking could soon change. Who will surpass Elon Musk to become the wealthiest? How did this shift in wealth occur?

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla

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According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of the 4th, the richest person is Elon Musk. His total net worth is approximately $205 billion, placing him at the top of the wealth rankings. Following closely behind is Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, with an estimated net worth of about $197 billion. The third place is Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury brands, with $185 billion. Fourth is Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, with $170 billion, and fifth is Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, with $145 billion.

Elon Musk rose to the top spot as the world's richest person around 2019. At that time, Jeff Bezos was the richest. Since surpassing Bill Gates in 2017, Bezos had never lost his position. However, Tesla began to grow rapidly after the release of the Model 3 electric car in 2018. Thanks to explosive stock price increases, Elon Musk's wealth grew dramatically. Although there have been some fluctuations in rankings depending on stock price trends, he has maintained the number one position firmly.

Amazon disclosed in its annual report on the 2nd that Jeff Bezos has adopted a plan to sell 50 million shares of Amazon stock by January 31 of the following year.
[Image=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]

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However, the ranking of billionaires may change again. On the 2nd local time, Amazon submitted its annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The report requires disclosure of important "other information" related to company management, including plans for stock sales by senior executives. This included a stock sale plan decided by Bezos on November 8 last year. Bezos announced that he could sell up to 50 million Amazon shares anytime until January 31 of the following year. At the current stock price, this is worth about $8.6 billion.

This announcement coincided with Amazon's stock price rise. Since the early days of the pandemic, Amazon has shown the best online sales growth. Total sales increased by 10% compared to a year ago, and the growth rate of cloud services (AWS) exceeded the previous quarter. As a result, the stock price rose more than 7%. On the other hand, Tesla's stock price has been on a downward trend, dropping more than 30% from its peak last month. Analysts suggest that if Jeff Bezos sells a large amount of shares at the peak and secures substantial cash, the billionaire rankings could soon change.

Jeff Bezos touring Amazon's first office in Seattle in 1994. Through this post, Jeff Bezos announced that he is moving from Seattle to Miami, Florida.
[Photo by Jeff Bezos Instagram]

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Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos's residence has attracted significant attention. Why? Because in the U.S., taxes vary greatly depending on where you live. Since founding Amazon in a Seattle garage in 1994, Bezos had lived in Seattle. However, in November last year, when deciding to sell shares, he announced on his social media that he would move from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida. The apparent reason was to stay close to his parents' home and his business locations.

However, foreign media focused on tax rates. Washington State decided in 2022 to impose a 7% tax on capital gains over $250,000. Although Republican lawmakers filed lawsuits to invalidate it, they lost, and about $900 million was collected in the first year alone. Regarding inheritance tax, assets over $2.19 million are taxed at 10-20%. However, Florida has no capital gains tax or inheritance tax. For Jeff Bezos, living in Florida means significantly lower taxes compared to Washington.

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