
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-as-companies-increase-their-reliance-on-cloud-providers-to-store-vital-data-a-rash-of-aws-outages-has-riled-clients-with-some-looking-to-hedge-their-bets-with-access-to-other-platforms"><strong>As companies increase their reliance on cloud providers to store vital data, a rash of AWS outages has riled clients, with some looking to hedge their bets with access to other platforms.</strong></h2>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p>W<strong>hen Amazon Web Services</strong>&nbsp;suffered its third major outage in a matter of weeks last month – affecting millions of people, from Citi Bike riders to Disney+ viewers and Delta Airlines customers – almost none of its corporate clients expressed frustration publicly.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But within boardrooms and corner offices, the most recent outage on December 22 was the latest reminder of the risks of relying on a single cloud vendor. “The AWS outages were a black eye for the company as more enterprises race to the cloud,” says Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.&nbsp;</p>



<p>AWS has long been the cloud leader, holding 41% of the global cloud infrastructure market, and generated $16 billion revenue in the third quarter of 2021. Though as a first-mover cloud vendor since it launched in 2006 – becoming essential for small and medium businesses looking to outsource their networks – AWS has been fending off tough competition from Microsoft, which Gartner says grew twice as fast as AWS in 2020 as it moved to secure large corporations. Microsoft doesn’t break out its public cloud revenue, but the most recent comparable figures from Gartner show that in 2020, Azure generated $12 billion revenue from public cloud infrastructure services, compared to $26 billion by AWS. (Google Cloud trailed at $4 billion).</p>



<p>Now that outages have reinforced the risks of relying on one vendor, signs that corporations are increasingly turning to Microsoft are starting to emerge. Research published this month by Bank of America shows that 23% of chief information officers at 185 large companies around the world expect to spend most of their cloud budgets over the next 12 months on Microsoft Azure, compared with 11% for Amazon AWS.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-public-cloud-infrastructure-services-market-share-2017-v-2020">Global Public Cloud Infrastructure Services Market Share 2017&nbsp;v&nbsp;2020</h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-27-at-14.16.25-1024x418.png" alt="" class="wp-image-54084" width="709" height="289" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-27-at-14.16.25-1024x418.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-27-at-14.16.25-300x122.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-27-at-14.16.25-768x313.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-27-at-14.16.25.png 1128w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px" /></figure></div>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p>A spokesperson for AWS contended that the company has a better track record of reliability than any other cloud provider. “Pioneering this level of reliability at the scale of AWS is an unprecedented engineering accomplishment,” the spokesperson said in an email. “However, we understand how critical our services are for customers and their end users, and we&#8217;re not satisfied unless performance is indistinguishable from perfect.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>AWS also said it believed clients should stick to multiple cloud regions within AWS, rather than entering multi-cloud agreements with other vendors to manage exposure to outages. “A multi-cloud architecture is technically complex, creates increased latency, and results in lower actual availability and resiliency than architecting for high-availability on AWS,” the spokesperson said.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Microsoft declined to comment.</p>



<p>Companies are typically reluctant to talk publicly about their cloud strategies and how much they spend, especially if it relates to a single vendor.&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>asked 45 companies affected by the AWS outages – including McDonald’s, Toyota and Coinbase – whether they use multiple cloud vendors or were considering doing so, and whether the recent AWS outages had prompted them to change their cloud strategy.</p>



<p>Ride-sharing service Lyft previously made perhaps the boldest statement against Amazon after the most recent AWS outage turned off the Citi Bike stations it operates in New York and New Jersey,&nbsp;<a href="https://gothamist.com/news/amazon-outage-took-citi-bike-offline-height-rush-hour" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">saying</a>&nbsp;“we&#8217;re as frustrated as our riders.” Lyft, which had said it planned to “build redundancy” into its system, declined to comment further, or say whether it was considering moving to another cloud vendor. When asked about whether the AWS outages had prompted a rethink of its reliance on AWS, a spokesperson for Toyota underscored the need for companies to review their strategies when the system fails, and that for larger companies, it “may mean a more complex build-out utilizing more than one cloud vendor.”</p>



<p>American Express, another AWS customer, echoed the need for access to multiple clouds. Evan Kotsovinos, American Express’ global head of infrastructure, wouldn’t say whether Amex was affected by the AWS outages, but says the company has resiliency built in across its network because it has agreements with multiple vendors, in multiple regions. Amex has been building out its relationship with Oracle, for instance. “Different clouds have different strengths,” says Kotsovinos. “And so if you really want to get the maximum value out of the clouds, you&#8217;ve got to put the right applications in the right cloud.”</p>



<p>Others, meanwhile,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>affirmed their loyalty to AWS, despite the outages. Atlassian, which runs all of its products on top of AWS, told&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>that it is not considering other cloud vendors. Atlassian CTO Sri Viswanath added that the company is unconcerned by the AWS hiccups. “Our engineering teams regularly war-games downtime scenarios,” Viswanath said in a statement. “So when the AWS outage happened, we had mitigation plans in place and were able to limit the overall impact to our customers.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>1Password, a password management company valued at $6.8 billion after a funding round this month, confirmed it uses a single AWS region, but said it offsets the risks of outages by encrypting its clients’ data locally. “At the end of the day, our decisions are made based on best-in-class infrastructure providers, and our choices aren’t triggered by any single event,&#8221; 1Password’s CTO Pedro Canahuati said in a statement.</p>



<p>And a spokesperson for Slack said “our strategy for cloud platform partners has not changed and we look forward to continuing our work with AWS.”</p>



<p>To be clear, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud also encounter outages. In October, Azure customers were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/global-azure-outage-knocked-out-virtual-machines-other-vm-dependent-services/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unable</a>&nbsp;to access a suite of services for eight hours. And in November, company websites of Snap, Home Depot and Spotify and others were down after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-16/home-depot-amazon-web-services-websites-reportedly-see-outages" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Cloud experienced an outage</a>&nbsp;caused by a network configuration glitch. Outages also occur as a result of issues with edge cloud services, which often provide “last-mile” connections from the vendors, such as Akamai and Fastly.</p>



<p>And a major migration to multi-cloud environments – where large companies use more than one vendor – has been underway since 2019, a movement accelerated by the pandemic, which forced companies to outsource their networks as their employees worked from home. A survey by cloud-research firm Futuriom published in October found that 55% of large companies were currently using two or more cloud vendors, while 83% were assessing multi-cloud networking.</p>



<p>Amazon’s efforts to keep cloud customers loyal has been increasingly suffering from the perception it may compete with them. Capital One, among AWS’ largest clients,&nbsp;<a href="https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/capital-one-all-in-on-aws/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a>&nbsp;at the annual AWS re:Invent conference in November 2020 that it was “going all in on the cloud” by closing all of its data centers and had migrated its networks to AWS. But Capital One told&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>it has signed agreements with other cloud vendors, which it says it leverages “for niche use cases.” Given Amazon’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/amazon-across-financial-services-fintech/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lofty ambitions</a>&nbsp;in the financial services sector, Capital One’s niche agreements with other vendors are likely to grow, says Steve Mullaney, the CEO of Aviatrics, which helps companies including Capital One manage multiple cloud environments. “What&#8217;s in your wallet?” Mullaney says, echoing the bank’s tagline. “Well, guess what: Maybe an Amazon card.”</p>



<p>For now, the outages are the most recent reminder for large corporations of the risk of relying on one cloud, Mullaney says. The AWS outages were “gasoline on the fire,” Mullaney says. “The last remnants – the laggards – it probably accelerated those people” to go multi-cloud.</p>



<p><strong><em> By <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/"></a>David Jeans, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


In this photo illustration, the Amazon Books logo is seen

Amazon’s Devoted Cloud Customers Face A Decision After Outages: Leave, Stay Or Diversify?


<p>Earlier this week, while Bezos was in Glasgow at the COP26 climate summit, he sold more than $2 billion worth of Amazon shares. The sale came as Bezos, the world’s second richest person, promised in a speech at the summit that he will spend&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sofialottopersio/2021/11/02/billionaire-jeff-bezos-takes-stage-at-cop26-to-pledge-2-billion-towards-nature-conservation/?sh=41e3a18c782c">$2 billion from his Earth Fund</a>&nbsp;on restoring nature and transforming food systems.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“We must conserve what we still have, we must restore what we’ve lost, and we must grow what we need to live without degrading the planet for future generations to come,” Bezos said during his talk in Glasgow.</p>



<p>The sale, after accounting for capital gains taxes Bezos likely owes, barely changes his net worth. As of midday Thursday, Bezos is worth $199.4 billion,&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>estimates. He trails the number one richest, Elon Musk (worth an estimated $317 billion), by about $118 billion.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Bezos has sold more than $8.8 billion worth of Amazon stock this year. Since taking Amazon public in 1998, the founder of the e-commerce giant has sold some $29 billion worth of Amazon shares,&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;calculates; his stake in the company has gone from 42% in 1997 to just under 10% currently. Last year&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2021/06/24/heres-how-much-money-jeff-bezos-has-reaped-from-selling-amazon-stock/?sh=62bf2e63389a">he unloaded $10 billion worth</a>&nbsp;of his Amazon stake.</p>



<p>In July, Bezos gave up the role of Amazon CEO but has stayed on as the company’s chairman. Since then he’s shifted his focus to his rocket company, Blue Origin, and has made several announcements about philanthropic gifts. In September he announced a $1 billion pledge toward conservation efforts.&nbsp;MORE FOR YOU<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanktucker/2021/09/23/evergrande-chairman-hui-ka-yan-has-been-paid-8-billion-in-cash-while-property-developer-piled-on-debt/">Evergrande Chairman Hui Ka Yan Has Been Paid $8 Billion In Cash While Property Developer Piled On Debt</a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2021/09/26/walter-scott-jr-warren-buffetts-longtime-friend-and-business-partner-dead-at-90/">Walter Scott Jr., Warren Buffett’s Longtime Friend And Business Partner, Dead At 90</a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2021/09/25/democrat-on-powerful-house-ways-and-means-committee-apparently-violated-stock-trade-rules/">Democrat On Powerful House Ways And Means Committee Apparently Violated Stock-Trade Rules</a></p>



<p>Amazon stock has more than doubled in value since the beginning of 2019; it’s risen about 6% since early January 2021.</p>



<p>A spokesperson for Jeff Bezos at Amazon declined to comment regarding the share sales.</p>



<p><strong><em>By Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes Staf</em></strong></p>


Amazon Unveils Its First Smartphone

Jeff Bezos Just Sold $2 Billion Worth Of Amazon Stock


<p>Jeff Bezos is no longer the richest person on the planet, and this time it’s not because he physically left earth in a Blue Origin rocket. Amazon stock cratered 7.6% Friday after the company reported second quarter earnings Thursday afternoon—shaving $13.9 billion off its founder’s fortune in one day and pushing Bezos behind French tycoon Bernard Arnault.</p>



<p>Shares of Arnault’s luxury goods conglomerate LVMH fell by 1.4% Friday, making Arnault $2.9 billion poorer as well, but he still finished the week with an estimated net worth of $192.9 billion, $500 million ahead of Bezos. The two&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2021/06/10/after-two-weeks-at-no-2-jeff-bezos-is-once-again-the-richest-person-in-the-world/?sh=44e6163557aa">played leapfrog</a>&nbsp;for the top spot in late May and early June, but Bezos had spent the last 50 days as the world’s richest person, notwithstanding his brief interstellar excursion on July 20.</p>



<p>After Arnault got more than <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2021/04/13/how-lvmh-chief-bernard-arnault-got-nearly-100-billion-richer-over-the-past-year/?sh=39ada77692f1">$100 billion richer</a> during the first year of the pandemic, LVMH’s rally has plateaued for most of the summer. Arnault owns a 47% stake in the company, which has a market capitalization of more than $400 billion. Its subsidiaries include Louis Vuitton, Moët &amp; Chandon, Christian Dior and Tiffany &amp; Co.</p>



<p>Despite the stock drop, Amazon was far from a failure in the second quarter. The business generated $113 billion in revenue—27% higher than the same period last year—and $7.8 billion in net profit. But stockholders were hoping the embarrassment of riches would be even larger, especially after first quarter revenue grew 44%. Amazon said Thursday that it predicts third quarter revenue to be between $106 billion and $112 billion, lower than the $119 billion analysts were expecting. Amazon’s chief financial officer, Brian Olsavsky, attributed the slowdown to people feeling more comfortable leaving home to shop and spend on other activities compared with last spring and summer during the heart of the pandemic.</p>



<p>Amazon’s decline also lowered the net worth of Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott to an estimated $56 billion, a $4.6 billion drop on Friday, making her the 22nd-richest person in the world.</p>



<p>Aside from Bezos and Scott, most of the week’s biggest billionaire losers reside in China, where stocks continued to fall due to the country’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2021/07/27/chinas-internet-tycoons-suffer-136-billion-wealth-drop-as-regulatory-crackdown-triggers-market-sell-off/?sh=337731be373c">ongoing tech crackdown</a>. This month, Chinese authorities forced app stores to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/07/04/china-bans-didi-from-app-stores-just-days-after-massive-us-ipo/?sh=5ad30e731202">remove ride-hailing giant Didi</a>&nbsp;within days of its U.S. IPO,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2021/07/25/chinas-tutoring-crackdown-sends-fortunes-of-education-billionaires-into-nosedive/?sh=5bf4861b256f">crippled online tutoring companies</a>&nbsp;by requiring them to register as nonprofits, ordered food delivery companies to provide more protections for their drivers and required tech conglomerate Tencent to relinquish exclusive licensing rights to online music.</p>



<p>Tencent CEO Ma Huateng’s fortune declined by $4.7 billion to $47.5 billion this week as the company’s shares fell by 8.5%. The CSI 300 Index, which tracks the performance of the largest stocks listed in China, declined by 5.5% this week, and the Hang Seng Index tracking the Hong Kong stock market fell by 5%.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-here-are-the-billionaires-whose-fortunes-fell-the-most-this-week">HERE ARE THE BILLIONAIRES WHOSE FORTUNES FELL THE MOST THIS WEEK.</h2>



<p><em>The net worth change is from close of markets Friday, July 23 to Friday, July 30.</em></p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-jeff-bezos"><strong>1 | JEFF BEZOS</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-192-4-billion-down-16-8-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$192.4 BILLION, DOWN $16.8 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-united-states">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-amazon">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>AMAZON</strong></h3>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-mackenzie-scott"><strong>2 | MACKENZIE SCOTT</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-56-billion-down-5-5-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$56 BILLION, DOWN $5.5 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-united-states-1">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-amazon-1">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>AMAZON</strong></h3>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-ma-huateng"><strong>3 | MA HUATENG</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-47-5-billion-down-4-7-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$47.5 BILLION, DOWN $4.7 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-china">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>CHINA</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-internet-media-tencent">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>INTERNET MEDIA / TENCENT</strong></h3>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-wang-xing"><strong>4 | WANG XING</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-17-1-billion-down-4-2-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$17.1 BILLION, DOWN $4.2 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-china-1">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>CHINA</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-e-commerce-meituan">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>E-COMMERCE / MEITUAN</strong></h3>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-zhang-yong"><strong>5 | ZHANG YONG</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-11-1-billion-down-4-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$11.1 BILLION, DOWN $4 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-singapore">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>SINGAPORE</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-restaurants-haidilao">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>RESTAURANTS / HAIDILAO</strong></h3>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-6-yang-huiyan"><strong>6 | YANG HUIYAN</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-27-9-billion-down-2-6-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$27.9 BILLION, DOWN $2.6 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-china-2">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>CHINA</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-real-estate">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>REAL ESTATE</strong></h3>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-7-hui-ka-yan"><strong>7 | HUI KA YAN</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-14-6-billion-down-2-6-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$14.6 BILLION, DOWN $2.6 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-china-3">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>CHINA</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-real-estate-1">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>REAL ESTATE</strong></h3>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-8-mukesh-ambani"><strong>8 | MUKESH AMBANI</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-77-6-billion-down-2-5-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$77.6 BILLION, DOWN $2.5 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-india">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>INDIA</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-reliance-industries">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>RELIANCE INDUSTRIES</strong></h3>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-9-pierre-omidyar"><strong>9 | PIERRE OMIDYAR</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-24-3-billion-down-2-5-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$24.3 BILLION, DOWN $2.5 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-united-states-2">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>UNITED STATES</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-ebay-paypal">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>EBAY, PAYPAL</strong></h3>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-10-li-xiting"><strong>10 | LI XITING</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-22-billion-down-2-5-billion">NET WORTH |&nbsp;<strong>$22 BILLION, DOWN $2.5 BILLION</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-country-china-4">COUNTRY |&nbsp;<strong>CHINA</strong></h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-source-of-wealth-medical-devices">SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;<strong>MEDICAL DEVICES</strong></h3>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p><strong><em>By Hank Tucker, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Billionaire LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE Chairman Bernard Arnault at VivaTech 2021

Bernard Arnault Once Again The World’s Richest Person After Jeff Bezos Loses Nearly $14 Billion In One Day


<p><strong>TOPLINE</strong>: Shares of Amazon fell as much as 8% Friday after the e-commerce juggernaut disclosed a massive fine from European regulators for allegedly breaking regional privacy laws and posted second-quarter earnings results that failed to meet Wall Street expectations, putting the longtime market leader on track for its worst day in more than a year. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



<p>As of 11:15 a.m. EDT, Amazon stock has plunged 7% Friday to about $3,349.50, pushing the firm&#8217;s market capitalization down below $1.7 trillion and wiping out nearly $130 billion from a closing level above $1.8 trillion Thursday.</p>



<p>Ushering in the massive losses, Amazon posted second-quarter revenue after Thursday&#8217;s market close of $113.1 billion—up 27% year over year, but falling short of average analyst expectations totaling $115 billion.</p>



<p>Despite soaring more than 48%, net income of more than $7.7 billion also fell slightly short of estimates, which called for about $7.8 billion.</p>



<p>The stark decline also comes after Amazon&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001018724/000101872421000020/amzn-20210630.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">disclosed</a>&nbsp;a $885 million (746 million euros) fine, levied on July 16, by the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection, which claims Amazon&#8217;s processing of personal data did not comply with European regulations.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In the filing, Amazon, which in a statement asserts no data breach has occurred, said it believes the watchdog&#8217;s decision is &#8220;without merit&#8221; and that it intends to appeal the ruling and defend itself &#8220;vigorously&#8221; in the matter.</p>



<p>Amazon&#8217;s Friday plunge puts it on track for its worst one-day decline since the height of pandemic uncertainty tanked the broader market in March 2020.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE&nbsp;</h3>



<p>&#8220;Consumers&#8217; online shopping levels are returning to more normal levels as they shift some spending to other entertainment sources and offline shopping,&#8221; Morningstar analyst Dan Romanoff said in a Friday note. &#8220;Meanwhile, the company continues to add capacity [and costs] at a breakneck pace in order to meet customer demand and one day delivery,&#8221; Romanoff added, pointing out Amazon has already nearly doubled its footprint during the last 18 months.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h3>



<p>Shares of Amazon are now down more than 10% from a record closing high of $3,719 earlier this month.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h3>



<p>Amazon far underperformed the broader market Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which doesn&#8217;t include Amazon, ticked down just 0.2%, while the S&amp;P 500, which counts the retail giant as its third-largest component, fell 0.4%.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h3>



<p>“Maintaining the security of our customers’ information and their trust are top priorities. There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to any third party. These facts are undisputed,” Amazon said in a statement Friday. “The decision relating to how we show customers relevant advertising relies on subjective and untested interpretations of European privacy law, and the proposed fine is entirely out of proportion with even that interpretation.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58024116" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon hit with $886m fine for alleged data breach</a> <em>(BBC)</em></p>



<p><strong><em>By Jonathan Ponciano, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Amazon Stock Loses $130 Billion In Market Value After $885 Million Fine And Disappointing Earnings Report


<p><strong>The Amazon founder is heading to space in July. He isn&#8217;t the first billionaire astronaut, and he won&#8217;t be the last, but he will be the first to bring his own spaceship.</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong><em>By Kenrick Cai, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>



<p>On Monday, Jeff Bezos announced that he would fly into space in late July on his company Blue Origin’s spacecraft. The flight, scheduled for July 20, will take place just two weeks after Bezos steps down as CEO of Amazon, the e-commerce firm he founded in 1994. The occasion would make Bezos, now the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#1028f1363d78">world’s second-richest person</a>, the first of the “space billionaires”—entrepreneurs who are funding space industry innovations—to personally visit outer space. But Bezos isn’t the first, and he’s far from the last billionaire astronaut. (The big question mark? Elon Musk, who has often stated his desire to travel into space but hasn&#8217;t yet announced concrete plans to do so.)</p>



<p>Here are the billionaires who have already gone to space or are scheduled to go to space soon:</p>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-the-billionaires-who-ve-already-been-to-space"><strong>The Billionaires Who’ve Already Been To Space</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Charles Simonyi</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-73941854-1024x839.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51260" width="512" height="419" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-73941854-1024x839.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-73941854-300x246.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-73941854-768x629.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-73941854-1536x1259.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-73941854-2048x1678.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:&nbsp;</strong>April 2007 and March 2009</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:</strong>&nbsp;International Space Station</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:&nbsp;</strong>Russian Soyuz via Space Adventures</h4>



<p>Charles Simonyi, who built the first versions of Microsoft Office, was the first billionaire to go to space, and he remains the only one who’s gone twice. The Hungarian-born software developer joined Microsoft as its 40th employee in 1981 and stayed until 2002, before rejoining in 2017 when his former employer acquired his new company, Intentional Software. During his time away from the tech giant, Simonyi took two trips to the International Space Station via  space tourism firm Space Adventures, which together cost him some $60 million. Said Simonyi of the experience during a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiasavchuk/2015/01/04/what-to-pack-for-space-travel-charles-simonyi-space-adventures-virgin-galactic/">2015 interview with <em>Forbes</em></a>: “Every 90 minutes, you see spring, you see fall, you see the Arctic, you see the tropics, you see night, you see day.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Guy Laliberté</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-91787549-1024x780.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51263" width="552" height="420" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-91787549-1024x780.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-91787549-300x229.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-91787549-768x585.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-91787549-1536x1170.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-91787549-2048x1560.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 552px) 100vw, 552px" /><figcaption>(Photo credit should read YURI KOCHETKOV/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:&nbsp;</strong>September 2009</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:</strong>&nbsp;International Space Station</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:</strong>&nbsp;Russian Soyuz via Space Adventures</h4>



<p>Former fire-breathing street performer Guy Laliberté got rich after cofounding circus entertainment company Cirque Du Soleil in 1984. The Canadian entrepreneur grew it into an international operation, then finally took a months-long break in 2009 to train for a flight to the International Space Station. He paid $35 million for the ticket, which was Space Adventures’ final private spaceflight for more than a decade. “Basically you&#8217;re going through a car crash,” he <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2011/06/09/why-cirque-du-soleil-billionaire-guy-laliberte-traveled-to-space/">said of the landing</a>. “As soon as we hit the ground I wanted to go back up there and do the ride again.”</p>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-the-billionaires-heading-to-space-in-the-near-future"><strong>The Billionaires Heading To Space In The Near Future</strong></h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Jeff Bezos</strong></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:</strong>&nbsp;July 2021</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:</strong>&nbsp;Kármán line</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:&nbsp;</strong>Blue Origin New Shepard</h4>



<p>Since founding Blue Origin in 2000, Bezos, the world’s second richest person, has pumped an estimated $7.5 billion of his own cash into the aerospace company, according to space-focused venture firm Space Capital. Bezos announced Monday that he, alongside younger brother Mark, will be passengers on the firm’s first crewed space flight, set to launch on July 20, just two weeks after he transitions to become the executive chairman of Amazon. The flight is scheduled to cross the Kármán line, the internationally recognized border to outer space, more than 60 miles above the Earth’s surface, before making its descent. “Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos said in an Instagram post on June 7.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Jared Isaacman</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1230932973-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51261" width="516" height="344" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1230932973-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1230932973-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1230932973-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1230932973-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1230932973-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 516px) 100vw, 516px" /><figcaption>(Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:&nbsp;</strong>September 2021</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:</strong>&nbsp;Geocentric orbit</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:&nbsp;</strong>SpaceX Dragon spacecraft</h4>



<p>Payment processing entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is also a flight geek—<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2020/10/07/meet-the-new-billionaire-who-dropped-out-of-high-school-and-flies-fighter-jets-for-fun/">he’s flown in air shows, and pilots fighter jets for fun</a>. Now, Isaacman is set to be the commander on the world’s first <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/valeriestimac/2021/02/01/spacex-announces-first-all-civilian-mission-to-space-inspiration4/">all-civilian mission to space</a>. The billionaire purchased all four seats aboard the SpaceX-operated flight, which is meant to raise awareness for St. Jude Children’s Hospital; among <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/valeriestimac/2021/03/30/meet-the-final-two-members-of-the-worlds-first-all-civilian-spaceflight-mission-inspiration4/">the crewmates</a> selected is Hayley Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Yusaku Maezawa</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1047841562-1024x747.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51265" width="575" height="419" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1047841562-1024x747.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1047841562-300x219.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1047841562-768x560.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1047841562-1536x1120.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1047841562-2048x1494.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px" /><figcaption> (Photo by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:&nbsp;</strong>December 2021 and month TBD in 2023</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:&nbsp;</strong>International Space Station and around the Moon</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:</strong>&nbsp;Russia Soyuz via Space Adventures and SpaceX Starship</h4>



<p>Japanese billionaire Maezawa made his fortune by founding Zozotown, which at one point was his home country’s largest online fashion mall. In 2018, SpaceX’s Elon Musk announced that Maezawa would be its first private customer to fly around the Moon. Earlier this year, the entrepreneur <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/valeriestimac/2021/05/13/japanese-billionaire-yusaku-maezawa-announces-new-space-tourism-flight-plan-for-late-2021/">added another space destination</a> to his plans: through Space Adventures, he will now be the first space tourist to visit the International Space Station since Laliberté in 2009.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Richard Branson</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1178649355-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51262" width="608" height="405" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1178649355-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1178649355-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1178649355-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1178649355-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1178649355-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:&nbsp;</strong>Late 2021 (exact time TBD)</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:&nbsp;</strong>About 55 miles above the Earth’s surface</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:&nbsp;</strong>Virgin Galactic Unity spacecraft</h4>



<p>Continued setbacks mean Bezos is set to beat Branson as the first “space billionaire” to reach outer space. Branson is scheduled to be a passenger on Virgin Galactic’s third rocket-powered test flight, which CEO Michael Colglazier earlier told investors was planned to launch by March of this year. The first of those flights was ultimately completed in May; Branson’s flight, the third in the Virgin Galactic test flight series, is scheduled for later this year. The flights take passengers to about 55 miles above the Earth’s surface, which meets the FAA’s definition of spaceflight. After the series of test flights is completed, the company’s commercial service will begin operation. More than 600 passengers, including actors Angelina Jolie and Tom Hanks, have already booked flights. Some have waited more than a decade since their ticket purchase.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Sergey Brin</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1057560642-1024x750.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51266" width="508" height="372" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1057560642-1024x750.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1057560642-300x220.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1057560642-768x562.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1057560642-1536x1124.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1057560642-2048x1499.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:&nbsp;</strong>TBD</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:&nbsp;</strong>International Space Station</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:&nbsp;</strong>TBD via Space Adventures</h4>



<p>In 2008, Google cofounder Sergey Brin became an investor in Space Adventures through a $5 million deposit usable for a future orbital spaceflight. While Space Adventures will be resuming its private flights to the International Space Station this year, starting with billionaire Maezawa, it is unclear if or when Brin plans to go up.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-676417528-860x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51264" width="540" height="643" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-676417528-860x1024.jpg 860w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-676417528-252x300.jpg 252w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-676417528-768x914.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-676417528-1291x1536.jpg 1291w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-676417528-1721x2048.jpg 1721w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px" /><figcaption>  (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>When:</strong>&nbsp;TBD</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where:&nbsp;</strong>Suborbital space</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How:&nbsp;</strong>Virgin Galactic spacecraft</h4>



<p>he Winklevoss twins are among the hundreds of passengers who have booked commercial space flights through Virgin Galactic, though they remain the only (publicly disclosed) customers who used bitcoin for the purchase. They used the cryptocurrency to purchase a pair of tickets that cost the equivalent of $250,000 each in January 2014. Based on current trading prices, the bitcoin they spent is worth more than $10 million today.</p>


gettyimages-1171215140-594×594-1

Jeff Bezos And The Other Billionaire Space Cowboys


<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/?sh=28bb8a6a1b23">Jeff Bezos</a>&nbsp;didn’t have to wait long to reclaim his throne as the richest person in the world: A few hours after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2021/05/24/bernard-arnault-becomes-worlds-richest-person-as-lvmh-stock-rises/?sh=355a97ab2ad9">losing</a>&nbsp;the title to French luxury fashion magnate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/bernard-arnault/?sh=23d080666fa4">Bernard Arnault</a>, he’s now back at No. 1 after Amazon’s shares ticked up when markets opened in New York. As of 1:30 pm ET, Bezos leads with a fortune of $188.4 billion, ahead of Arnault’s $187.3 billion.</p>



<p>The two men entered the weekend on level terms, worth $186 billion each, after shares in Arnault’s&nbsp; luxury goods conglomerate LVMH rallied in the second half of last week. LVMH stock performed even better on Monday, closing nearly 1% higher and boosting Arnault’s fortune by $1.7 billion—enough for him to briefly eclipse Bezos and become the world’s richest person for a few hours. Then Amazon shares ticked up more than 1% as of 1:30 pm ET on Monday, making Bezos $2.4 billion richer today.</p>



<p>Arnault has briefly ranked as the world’s richest person several times already: Just before the markets closed on Friday in the U.S., Arnault was about $100 million&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2021/05/21/french-luxury-tycoon-bernard-arnault-is-now-tied-with-jeff-bezos-for-richest-person-in-the-world/?sh=364d38d42b91">richer</a>&nbsp;than Bezos, before ending the day with the same net worth. At around 10:30 am ET on December 16, 2019, Arnault&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinstoller/2019/12/16/french-billionaire-bernard-arnault-was-briefly-the-worlds-richest-person-today/?sh=43b1d3ad7ce1">pushed</a>&nbsp;past Bezos to claim No. 1 for the first time, until Amazon shares closed higher and Arnault fell back to number two.</p>



<p>While Bezos is now trading the top spot with Arnault, he was previously locked into a tight competition with Tesla CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=5a9c30fe7999">Elon Musk</a>, currently the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $150.8 billion. In early January, Musk overtook Bezos to become the richest on three separate occasions—on January 8, 12 and 14—before the Amazon founder definitively clawed his way back on January 15.</p>



<p>All three men have seen spectacular growth in their net worths throughout the pandemic, collectively gaining more than $300 billion. Since <em>Forbes</em> calculated net worths for its 2020 World’s Billionaires list at the worst of the market crash in March 2020, Bezos has gotten more than $75 billion richer, compared to gains of nearly $127 billion for Musk and $111 billion for Arnault. Bezos’ net worth peaked at a staggering $200 billion on two occasions: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/08/26/worlds-richest-billionaire-jeff-bezos-first-200-billion/?sh=495faf434db7">first</a> in August 2020 and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2021/04/28/jeff-bezos-is-once-again-worth-a-staggering-200-billion/?sh=287e3af24b4e">again</a> late last month in April 2021.</p>



<p><em><strong>By Giacomo Tognini, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Tag: Jeff Bezos Amazon

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