Everything seems to be smiling for him these past few days.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon (AMZN) – Get a free reportWhich is headed by the Executive Director, it is currently going through a strange period on all fronts.
On a professional level, he just met his rival, Elon Musk, in the conquest of space. NASA announced on May 19 that it had selected Blue Origin, the Bezos company, to build a second lunar landing system, intended to bring astronauts to the lunar surface. The probe has been selected for the Artemis V mission, scheduled for 2029. It will first have to prove its safety by landing on the Moon without a crew.
The contract, called Sustaining Lunar Development, or SLD, is valued at $3.4 billion, but John Colouris, vice president of lunar transportation at Blue Origin, said at a press conference that the company would contribute itself “well north” of the contract value as well.
Bezos’ net worth is $39 billion
This contract erases the humiliation he received in the face of Musk and SpaceX.
In 2021, NASA has chosen SpaceX to build the Artemis III lander. The contract, known as the Human Landing System, or HLS, was $2.9 billion, while SpaceX will also contribute to the effort that exceeds that amount. Blue Origin, which is also competing for this first contract, has filed a complaint against NASA, accusing it of choosing one company rather than two as it had proposed.
“You can’t sue your way to the moon, no matter how good your attorney is,” Musk said during the legal battle between Blue Origin and NASA.
The lawsuit was dismissed by the US Court of Federal Claims.
Still on a professional level, Amazon also appears to have lagged behind its nightmare year of 2022 during which the e-commerce giant’s business plunged 49.6%. The market capitalization fell below the symbolic threshold of $1 trillion. Those bad memories seem so far away now. The stock is up 38.4% this year, giving a market value of $1.18 trillion at its last check.
This stock market rebound is also good for Bezos, who has much of his personal wealth tied to his stake in Amazon. The billionaire weighed $139 billion as of May 22, a net increase of $31.9 billion this year, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The good news is piling up on a personal level as Bezos finally takes delivery of his luxury yacht after much wrangling. Huge kuru, 127 meters long and 16 meters wide. Its construction began in 2021 in the Netherlands and its value is estimated at $500 million. It has caused controversy since part of the Rotterdam Bridge was dismantled to pass the Three Bridge. But in the end, the disassembly did not take place.
Over the past few days, photos in the tabloids have shown Bezos, 59, and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, 53, vacationing on this yacht in Europe.
Bezos is engaged
Indeed, the trip hides a happy event. According to the New York PostAnd Bezos and Sanchez are now engaged. Bezos reportedly proposed to Sanchez in Coro.
“The couple is now believed to be planning their wedding,” the New York Post wrote, citing sources close to the power couple.
The couple has yet to make an official announcement.
In January 2019, the founder of the e-commerce giant Amazon and his wife of 25 years, Mackenzie Scott, announced to the world that they were about to divorce. Announced on Twitter.
It was one of the rare moments when the audience got a glimpse into the life of the man who transformed Amazon from an online bookseller into an e-commerce world.
The divorce was finalized a few months later. MacKenzie Scott acquired a 4% stake in the online shopping giant, worth more than $38 billion at the time. She noted that the Amazon CEO would retain 75% of Amazon stock for the couple, along with voting control of his ex-wife’s shares “to support his continued contributions with the teams of these amazing companies.”
The couple have four children.
At the same time, Bezos has been the delight of the tabloid press. The National Enquirer obtained intimate photos of the billionaire. According to the Wall Street Journal at the time, there was evidence that it was Michael Sanchez, the brother of his new girlfriend, who sold the photos to the tabloid. His sister shared these photos with him.
Since that series, photos of the Bizos-Sanchez couple have made headlines in the tabloids. There were pictures from their vacation, pictures of them watching an NFL game after Amazon Prime won the rights to stream Thursday Night Football, pictures of them with other celebrities, an interview they did last year on CNN in which they talked about their charities’ work.