Jeff Bezos’ Net Worth Jumps $24 Billion as Amazon Shares Hit Record
New York (Kilat News) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his fortune balloon by nearly $24 billion on Friday as the company’s shares surged to an all-time high. The jump came after the e-commerce and cloud giant posted quarterly earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, boosted by a surge in demand for its artificial intelligence offerings.
Amazon stock jumped 11.5% in early trading Friday, climbing to about $248.60 a share. The rally followed a 3.2% drop the previous day, ahead of the company’s closely watched earnings release. The latest rise marks one of Amazon’s strongest single-day gains since April, when the stock climbed nearly 12%, and it now trades well above its previous February peak.
Strong Earnings, Stronger AI Growth
The company reported $180.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, surpassing analysts’ forecasts of $177.9 billion, according to data from FactSet. Earnings per share hit $1.95, well above expectations of $1.57.
CEO Andy Jassy credited the growth largely to the company’s cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), which saw sales climb 20% year-over-year to $33 billion. Jassy said the performance reflected “strong demand” for AI infrastructure and services, including the launch of an $11 billion AI data center designed to support Anthropic’s next-generation AI models.
“Customers are continuing to build on AWS at an accelerating pace,” Jassy said in a statement. “Our AI capabilities are becoming a central part of that momentum.”
Bezos’ Fortune Nears $260 Billion
According to Forbes, Bezos’ net worth now stands at roughly $259.4 billion, making him the world’s third-richest person, behind Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault. The former Amazon CEO, who owns about 8% of the company’s shares, saw his personal fortune jump 10.2% in a single day.
The gain follows a volatile week for the billionaire, whose wealth fell by $6.6 billion on Thursday as Amazon’s stock briefly dipped. But with Friday’s rally, Bezos’ net worth has surged by more than $50 billion since April, when Amazon shares hit a low of $161.38.
So far in 2025, Amazon stock has gained more than 12%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500, which has risen around 6% over the same period.
Amazon’s AI Bet and Cost Cutting
Amazon’s resurgence is largely attributed to its aggressive push into AI infrastructure and cloud innovation. Analysts say the company is positioning itself alongside Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia as one of the leading beneficiaries of global AI investment.
Earlier this week, Amazon confirmed plans to lay off 14,000 corporate employees in an effort to streamline operations and “eliminate bureaucracy.” CEO Jassy emphasized the move was not financially driven, saying, “It’s about making Amazon faster and more agile — not about cutting costs for AI, at least not right now.”
Analysts from Pivotal Research said the company’s performance demonstrates a “deep moat around its core businesses driven by unmatched scale,” adding that Amazon still has “numerous organic growth opportunities” supported by its high-margin cloud services.
The Bigger Picture
The latest rally pushes Amazon’s market capitalization closer to the $2.6 trillion mark, solidifying its place among the world’s most valuable companies. Investors are increasingly betting that the company’s expansion into AI will sustain its momentum, even as global markets remain cautious about inflation and trade policy.
While former President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff measures had raised early concerns about e-commerce costs, Amazon’s quarterly performance suggests the company has successfully navigated supply chain and pricing pressures.
For Bezos, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 but remains Amazon’s executive chairman, the record-setting rally reinforces his status as one of the most influential figures in tech and global finance.
