Global Tech Roundup: Jeff Bezos Earns $13Bn in a Day, UAE, US and China Mars Exploration and Others
Hi Guys! It’s the end of another busy week. Many important and interesting things happened across the global tech space this week. From stories of acquisitions to the launch of new products, fundraising and expansions.
Here is a quick roundup of some of the major stories you might have missed.
Jeff Bezos earn Record $13 Billion Fortune in a Single Day
2020 is quickly becoming the best year for Amazon CEO and Founder, Jeff Bezos. On Monday the billionaire added $13 billion to his net worth, breaking the record of largest single day addition to an individual’s wealth.
The record was set when Amazon shares surged 7.9%, the most since December 2018. Following the rise, the fortune of the worlds richest man added $13 billion.
Jeff Bezos is currently worth about $189.3 billion
Since the beginning of the year, Jeff has seen his fortune swell by $74 billion despite the huge economic downturn caused by the pandemic. In May, an analytics company, Comparisun projected that Jeff might become the first trillionaire by 2026.
With the current rate of Jeff’s wealth growth, the projection looks very achievable.
UAE, US and China Mars Exploration
It’s a busy time for Mars exploration as the red planet which is the closest in proximity with Earth will see three new space missions within the next three months. UAE, US and China will be taking advantage of this year’s Earth and Mars alignment, which happens for about one month every two years, to launch their missions.
Earth and Mars perennial alignment is the best time to set off for Mars. After late August, the next opportunity this good won’t arrive until 2022.
The UAE launched its Mars Hope probe from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center using a Japanese rocket mission on Sunday, 19 July. The probe which cost about $200 million will arrive at Mars in February to gather information about its atmosphere and weather patterns, according to the UAE Space Agency website.
The US and China plan to land on the planet making their mission more complex due to the planet’s atmosphere. The U.S. mission is called the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and has a launch window of July 30 to August 15. Like the UAE probe, it is also set to arrive on Mars surface in February.
Mars draws to within about 36 million miles of the earth, the closest it’s been in two years
The U.S. rover will drill for soil and rock samples to search for evidence of life, the possibility of habitable conditions that existed in the past, or past microbial life. It will also deploy a drone helicopter named Ingenuity for aerial surveillance.
China, on the other hand, launched, Tianwen-1, which includes an orbiter, lander and rover off a launch pad on Hainan Island on Thursday 23 July. The Tianwen-1 carries China’s hopes for its first successful Mars mission after a previous attempt failed in 2011.
Slack files antitrust complaint against Microsoft
Slack has filed an anti-competitive complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission. The company alleges that Microsoft is unfairly bundling its Teams product with the broader Office suite and is force installing it for millions, blocking its removal, and hiding its true cost to enterprise customers.
When Microsoft first launched Teams in 2016, Slack said it welcomed competition. However, the company has now come to say Microsoft Teams is not a true competitor. In April, Microsoft revealed that Teams has grown to 75 million daily active users, significantly higher than the 12.5 million that Slack reported in March.
The European Commission will now assess Slack’s complaint to determine whether it meets grounds for a formal investigation.
Netflix loses $19 billion in market value
Netflix recorded a loss of about $19 billion after its stocks fell by 8%. According to the video-streaming giant, the decline is due to the struggling subscriber growth projected by the company in the second quarter.
For Q2, Netflix’s earnings per share (EPS) was $1.59 which was less than the projected $1.81. However, its revenue earnings were marked at $6.15 billion higher than the projected $6.08 billion, according to Refinitiv. It also recorded a Global paid net subscriber additions of 10.09 million.
In Q1, Netflix’s revenues grew by 25 per cent. Netflix reported $1.57 Earnings Per Share (EPS) $5.77 billion in revenue and 15.77 million global paid net subscriber additions. The revenues in Q2 were average considering the surge in subscribers.
Tesla hits milestone $300 billion market cap
Tesla crossed a milestone $300 billion market valuation in July while making less than half of the revenue Apple and Amazon were making when they crossed the milestone.
According to analysts, Tesla’s earning on crossing compared to Apple’s crossing of the $300bn mark in early 2011 is less than half the size of Apple and roughly 1/5th of the EBITDA [earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization].
They added that it is also 70% smaller by revenue with about 1/3rd the EBITDA when compared to Amazon’s $300bn crossing in late 2015.
Tesla’s stock has risen over 200% this year, further fueled by stronger-than-expected Q2 earnings. Profits in its Q2 report makes it the fourth consecutive quarterly profit by the company.
