Photo: Jeff Bezos
Online sales for Black Friday and Thanksgiving surged to record highs in the US this year, pushing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ net worth to $100.3bn, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Retailers in the US brought in a record $7.9bn in online sales on Black Friday and Thanksgiving, up 17.9% from a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics, which measures transactions at the largest 100 US web retailers.
Adobe said Cyber Monday is expected to drive $6.6bn in internet sales, which would make it the largest US online shopping day in history.
Commerce marketing firm Criteo said 40% of Black Friday online purchases were made on mobile phones, up from 29% last year.
TVs, laptops, toys and gaming consoles – particularly the PlayStation 4 – were among the most heavily discounted and the biggest sellers, according to retail analysts and consultants.
The online sales boom caused Amazon’s online purchases to increase by more than 18% since last year, according to data from Adobe Analytics, as shares at the online retail giant jump more than 2%.
This in turn bumped Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos’ fortune up by $2.4bn, making him the newest $100bn mogul. The businessman is the first person to reach a net worth of over $100bn since Bill Gates in 1999. Gates was the world’s richest person prior to Bezos’ climb and is now worth almost $90bn.
Amazon’s stock has soared in 2017, resulting in Bezos’ net worth to rise by $32.6bn in just a year.
