Amazon Stock Plunge Costs Jeff Bezos His Position as World's Second Richest Person
In a significant shift in global wealth rankings, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has fallen behind Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after Amazon's latest quarterly earnings report disappointed investors and triggered a sharp decline in the company's stock value. According to the recently updated Forbes Billionaires List for 2025, Bezos' net worth decreased by a substantial $16 billion, representing a 6.9% reduction, bringing his total wealth to $218.9 billion.
Market Reaction to Amazon's Earnings Report
The wealth transfer occurred after Amazon shares plummeted approximately 9.3% on February 6, closing at around $202 per share. This dramatic drop followed the company's announcement of quarterly earnings that slightly missed Wall Street expectations. While Amazon reported revenue of $213.4 billion, which exceeded analyst projections, the company's earnings per share of $1.95 fell short of the anticipated $1.97.
Investors expressed particular concern about Amazon's aggressive spending plans for the coming years, especially regarding artificial intelligence infrastructure and other capital-intensive projects. The market's negative reaction to these announcements proved costly for Bezos, whose wealth is closely tied to Amazon's stock performance.
Zuckerberg Advances in Wealth Rankings
With Bezos' net worth reduction, Mark Zuckerberg has now claimed the position as the world's second-wealthiest individual with a net worth of $226.6 billion. This represents a notable shift in the hierarchy of global billionaires that has remained relatively stable in recent years.
Elon Musk continues to maintain his position as the world's wealthiest person with an astonishing net worth of $839.4 billion, according to the same Forbes list. Following Zuckerberg in the rankings are Google co-founders Larry Page with $267.3 billion and Sergey Brin with $246.6 billion, respectively.
Concerns Over Amazon's Spending Plans
During Amazon's earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy revealed that the company expects capital expenditure to reach approximately $200 billion in 2026. This projection represents a significant 36% increase above what Wall Street analysts had anticipated and raised immediate concerns among investors about potential returns on such massive investments.
"The spending increase was larger than expected and raised legitimate concerns about returns," noted analysts at MoffettNathanson, highlighting investor apprehension about Amazon's aggressive investment strategy.
The substantial capital expenditure is intended to support growing demand for artificial intelligence products, custom semiconductor chips, advanced robotics systems, and low-orbit satellite technology. However, the scale of these planned investments has created uncertainty about their impact on Amazon's near-term profitability.
Broader Tech Industry Investment Trends
Amazon's spending plans reflect a broader trend among major technology companies, with Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft collectively projecting capital expenditures of approximately $610 billion in 2026. This massive investment wave is primarily driven by artificial intelligence initiatives across the industry.
While technology executives consistently argue that such investments are necessary to support long-term growth and maintain competitive advantages, investors remain cautious about the immediate financial implications. The tension between future growth potential and current profitability continues to shape market reactions to earnings announcements from major technology firms.
The recent wealth ranking changes underscore how closely tied billionaire fortunes remain to stock market performance and investor sentiment. As technology companies navigate the balance between ambitious investment strategies and shareholder expectations, further shifts in the global wealth hierarchy may occur in response to quarterly financial results and market reactions.
