Jeff Bezos has now anchored his position as the world’s wealthiest person in modern history, after the Pentagon cancelled a cloud-computing contract with Microsoft, sending rival Amazon shares soaring.
Shares of Amazon rose nearly 5% following the Pentagon’s announcement, causing Bezos’ wealth to skyrocket by 48.4 billion on Tuesday. Although Bezos had officially abdicated his CEO position with Amazon earlier in the week, his remaining 10.3% in the company now puts his total net worth at a whopping $211 billion— the highest on Bloomberg Billionaire Index records dating back to 2012.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that it will be cancelling the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI), a cloud-computing contract worth $10 billion, which was awarded to Microsoft in 2019. “With the shifting technology environment, it has become clear that the Jedi Cloud contract, which has long been delayed, no longer meets the requirements to fill the DoD’s capability gaps,” explained the US Department of Defense.
Amazon has complained on numerous occasions that the Pentagon’s choice to give the contract to Microsoft was politically motivated, given that the decision was spearheaded by the Trump administration at the time. The contract was even temporarily put on hold, as Amazon filed a lawsuit alleging that Trump pushed defense officials to award the contract to Microsoft due to the former president’s hostility towards Bezos-owned Washington Post.
Information for this briefing was found via the Department of Defense and Bloomberg. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
