In 2018, Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos triumphed over Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates as the world’s richest person. He owns 16% of Amazon, which he founded in his garage in 1994. His current net worth is a whopping US$138 billion (about S$186 billion)! His growing wealth was boosted as Amazon acquired the healthy grocery chain called Whole Foods.
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As the only person in the Forbes list to rank with a 12-figure wealth, how does he spend his money?
PROPERTIES
It comes as no surprise that Mr. Bezos and his family has homes around United States. He owns a lake house, which is estimated to be worth about US$25 million (about S$33 million). His neighbors include Silicon Valley’s tycoon Bill Gates.
Not to mention, his Washington D.C. home belongs to a neighborhood where previous United States President Obama and Ivanka Trump resides. Said home was bought for about US$23 million (about S$31 million).
However, the state of his properties may change due to the recent announcement of his divorce.
INVESTMENTS
With all his wealth, he decided to diversify his portfolio. He has invested some of his money in Uber, Google, Airbnb, Washington Post, and Business Insider. What’s more?
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Bezos Expeditions has invested in businesses including Basecamp, Twitter, Juno Therapeutics, and Workday. Imagine having these big names in your reservoir!
EXPLORATIONS
His contributions to space exploration is his most ambitious venture yet. You read that right! Mr. Bezos has a passion for aerospace.
His love of space led him to finance the recovery of the remains of the Apollo booster-rocket engines. The engines were located from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, which is about 14,000 feet down. At his request, NASA donated a restored F-1 booster to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Moreover, he believes that his company Blue Origin can make affordable tourism possible!
The actualization of this passion project may commercialize space exploration. Who knew that having a honeymoon in outer space can actually become a valid option in the future?
According to the reports published on The New York Times, he is selling about US$1 billion in Amazon stock a year to fund this venture.
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Are all his efforts worth it in the end? More importantly, will a Singaporean tycoon follow the steps of Mr. Bezos towards space exploration? Only time can tell!