Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B • Hacker News Board

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#101

Post by suresk » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:03 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #71

tmpz22 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except nowadays even small local police departments have tanks and swat teams.

Small local police departments are also staffed by the 90%, though. I find it difficult to imagine an uprising against the 1% in America any time soon, but if it did happen I can absolutely imagine the police siding against the 1%.

At this point in America, pretty much everyone who has weapons and authority to use force is pretty ideologically aligned with the 1%. There is a pretty strong narrative in that group that all of these problems that many would ascribe to poor income equality are actually caused by immigrants, welfare recipients, and government.

I think the chance of the police or military siding against the 1% is incredibly small.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#102

Post by ajmurmann » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #29

Endama wrote: post #15

I feel that America is in the midst of a new gilded age; instead of Standard Oil, we have Amazon. Like the late 1920s, we saw losses in purchasing power of the average American, the collection of wealth among the top 1%, and disruption of our civic spaces as a result. I think the thing that many Americans aren't aware of was just how violent that time in US history was[1]. The US economy isn't just about how comforta…

I think Bezos is a bad argument for us being in a new guilded age. When you look at Rockefeller, Carnegie, Ford, and perhaps even Gates, they had near total control over some aspect of the American Economy. And they used that control to make incredible profits. Amazon is trying to do the same, but they haven't done so yet. Their retail business is not wildly profitable (if at all). They haven't monopolized online ret…

It makes no sense for Amazon to turn a profit. They invest everything back into growth. This way the stock keeps going up, Bezos and co sell their stock and pay long term capital gains tax instead of income tax. This way Bezos can get a better tax rate than his secretary.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#103

Post by paulddraper » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

godzillabrennus wrote: post #10

Hardly. He’s a pauper compared to John D. Rockefeller who died in 1937. At the time of his death his assets equaled 1.5% of America’s total economic output. With a $20T GDP that would be a $300B net worth in today’s dollars or around 200% what Bezos is worth. Don’t worry. This second gilded age that we are living in is on track to ensure we have a trillionaire in short order.

$150B is a pauper compared to $300B?

Two paupers = a king?

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#104

Post by olfactory » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #21

33% of that $150B came to him in 2018 alone (he started the year around $100B) and some people still claim that "we're not in a bubble".

I've moved many of my tech investments into Amazon b/c of the steady track record and stable trajectory of good decision making and execution.

If the economy tanks, it makes Amazon's review data and free shipping even more valuable. If I'm strapped for cash I'm less likely to walk into a retailer and pay top dollar for something with no reviews.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#105

Post by beaner » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

marknadal wrote: post #4

What on earth, he just hit $100B like a couple quarters ago. How on earth did his worth go up by 150% in less than a year? (Edit: up 50%, sorry you are right, I meant 150% of his previous net.)

There is more money in circulation and it needs somewhere to go. Investors put it in stocks. This is part of the reason the entire market has risen, amzn is just at the front of it.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#106

Post by CamTin » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

lainga wrote: post #61

ksec wrote: post #57

In theory, If you are a CEO, and you knew your stock is in bubble, could you have leverage it and borrow as much as you could for low rate, say $200B or more for 2%, and use that buy whatever business when the bubble burst?

Yes, and likely in practice too, but in practice you would probably also run afoul of insider-trading laws.

The fiduciary thing to do if you're in this spot is simply to issue equity like it's going out of style: If the market wants to pay you way more than you're worth, take them up on it and stockpile cash for the lean years that are coming. That said, depending on the time horizon of your existing investors, this may not be popular and you may find yourself out of a job.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#107

Post by mikec3010 » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

non_sequitur wrote: post #13

marknadal wrote: post #4

What on earth, he just hit $100B like a couple quarters ago. How on earth did his worth go up by 150% in less than a year? (Edit: up 50%, sorry you are right, I meant 150% of his previous net.)

Amazon's share price was mid 900s in Sept 2017...1800+ today. When you own a lot of that stock...

So it's similar to the $CURRENT_FAD coin valuations in that if Bezos were to try to liquidate all of his position it certainly wouldn't net him that publicised amount because there's not that much liquidity.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#108

Post by tzs » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

OT: I've always wondered, if some multi-billionaire became personally offended by some lesser multi-billionaire and decided to destroy them, what could they do? Assume that they don't want to do anything illegal enough to get themselves into serious trouble.

For example, suppose Bezos decided he really hated Rupert Murdoch ($15B). If Bezos decided he could happily live on a mere $100B, that would leave him $50B for the "Destroy Murdoch" project. Might not be able to actually destroy Murdoch for that, but could probably make his life very annoying.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#109

Post by dragonwriter » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

tmpz22 wrote: post #65

FussyZeus wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the 1%. Something Rich people tend to forget is that the system of law and order we have now prevents armed uprising of the lower classes, which has a history of cropping up during very hard economic times. Not advocating, and I doubt I'd be one of them holding a pitchfork, but it is something to keep in mind.

Except nowadays even small local police departments have tanks and swat teams.

> Except nowadays even small local police departments have tanks and swat teams.

Successful uprisings by the masses against the elites almost always involve substantial fractions of the military, police, and other security services defecting, either abandoning their gear or taking it with them and turning it against the elites.

Until we get robots replacing guys with guns, that's going to be a recurring failure mode for narrow elite rule.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#110

Post by soared » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

irrational wrote: post #75

FussyZeus wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the 1%. Something Rich people tend to forget is that the system of law and order we have now prevents armed uprising of the lower classes, which has a history of cropping up during very hard economic times. Not advocating, and I doubt I'd be one of them holding a pitchfork, but it is something to keep in mind.

Back in the day, most people grew up working on a farm/ranch/etc. and actually knew how to use a pitchfork. I'm trying to imagine today's obese generation trying to physically overthrow the government and can't help thinking that it wouldn't go so well.

An overthrow would look entirely different today. The masses wouldn't carry pitchforks, they'd use computers. (I don't know how, but assuming people today wouldn't use computers is definitely wrong)