Jeff Bezos Suffers £12 Billion Paper Loss as Amazon Shares Dive
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has taken a significant financial hit, with his wealth decreasing by £12 billion following a sharp decline in the company's share price. The drop occurred during early trading on Friday, making Bezos the biggest individual casualty of the sell-off, at least on paper.
Colossal Fortune Remains Despite Market Turmoil
Despite this substantial loss, Bezos remains one of the world's wealthiest individuals. His stake in Amazon, the firm he founded, is still valued at an astonishing £150 billion. His overall fortune has previously been estimated at around £180 billion, underscoring the immense scale of his wealth even after this downturn.
Amazon's Aggressive Investment Strategy Sparks Investor Concerns
The share price fall was triggered by Amazon's announcement of ambitious investment plans, totaling £147 billion for 2026 alone. This spending spree focuses heavily on artificial intelligence and robotics, as the tech giant aims to keep pace with rivals like Microsoft and Google. Amazon's capital expenditure is set to surge from £95.8 billion in 2025, with much of the funding directed toward opening new data centres.
Market analysts have expressed unease over the scale of these investments. Dave Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, commented, "The market just dislikes the substantial amount of money that keeps getting put into capex for these growth rates." This sentiment has contributed to Amazon's shares falling by more than 11% year-to-date, further eroding the value of Bezos's holdings.
Contrasting Corporate Moves: Investment Boom and Job Cuts
This massive investment comes amid a backdrop of workforce reductions at Amazon and its affiliated entities. Only a week prior, Amazon informed staff of plans to cut approximately 16,000 jobs globally, following a previous round of 14,000 layoffs. Concurrently, The Washington Post, the newspaper group owned by Bezos, announced devastating plans to axe a third of its entire workforce.
The cuts at The Post, revealed on Wednesday, will impact employees across various departments, with roles in sports, local, and foreign sections being particularly hard hit. Marty Baron, former editor of The Post until 2021, described the move as "among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations." He noted that while Bezos had previously championed a free press, the current spirit seems absent, with one employee calling the situation "an absolute bloodbath." This follows earlier job cuts at the paper, including 240 positions at the end of 2023.
Bezos's Personal and Professional Milestones
On a personal note, Bezos married TV presenter Lauren Sanchez in a lavish three-day wedding in Venice in June 2025. The star-studded event attracted celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, Kylie Jenner, and Ivanka Trump. Founded in 1994 as a bookseller, Amazon has grown into a sprawling empire with a stock market value of £1.75 trillion, reflecting its dominant position in the global tech landscape.
