Jeff Bezos
CEO, Amazon; Owner, The Washington Post
Bezos is the richest man on the planet with a personal wealth valuation of $129.5 billion – “enough to cover Britain’s budget deficit twice over and still have change,” as the Guardian newspaper put it.
Its main source is 16 percent of Amazon shares, which is why his personal wealth took a dip when Trump launched a Twitter campaign against the company, charging that it wasn’t paying enough to the Postal Service for its deliveries (others say Amazon business is helping to keep the mail service in business). With the acquisition of the Post in 2013 for 0 million, Bezos established a presence in Washington, which could increase if Washington, Virginia or Maryland land the contract for Amazon’s planned second headquarters, for which 238 towns and cities across the nation have put in bids.
With the
purchase of a mammoth home in the Kalorama neighborhood (formerly the Textile Museum) we can expect that Bezos will be spending more time in the nation’s capital, but certainly not to be close to Trump. Their differences go back to the 2016 campaign when Bezos offered Trump a free ride into space with the hashtag #SendDonaldtoSpace. Trump landed in the White House instead and that, among other things, raises questions about the future feasibility of Bezos’ new million college scholarship fund for “Dreamers.
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