SEATTLE: Despite gloom all over, Amazon saw its stock zooming over 5 per cent to an all-time high of over USD 2,283 per share - leaving the ecommerce giant with USD 1.1 trillion worth and adding USD 6.5 billion to its Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos fortune.
Amazon has been a favourite among 'sheltered-at-home' investors because of an unprecedented surge in online orders and the company keeping its workflow going despite health fears among its warehouse workers.
According to a Forbes report on Tuesday, Amazon stock surged 5.3 per cent on Tuesday, hitting a new record close of USD 2,283 per share. The stock is now up over 20 per cent so far this year, outpacing the benchmark index.
"Amazon is the first major company to rebound from the coronavirus market selloff, which started in late February: It's one out of only 28 stocks in the S&P 500 to do so," said the report. Bezos currently owns an 11.2 per cent stake in Amazon, with a net worth at USD 138 billion now.
His ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos, who owns about 4 per cent of Amazon, saw her net worth rise by USD 2.2 billion, to reach USD 44.8 billion. Amazon is now world's second-largest company after Microsoft which is worth USD 1.32 trillion.
The e-tailer is set to allow third-party sellers to start shipping nonessential items to its warehouses this week as it ramps up efforts to supply the essential items in the challenging COVID-19 times. After filling 100,000 new jobs announced in March, e-commerce giant Amazon is planning to add 75,000 more, to help meet surge in demand due to the COVID-19 crisis.
As more and more people rely on home deliveries to source the supplies of their daily needs, Amazon said it is "looking for talent in every community where we operate". To help its employees during the crisis, Amazon also increased pay for hourly employees by USD 2 per hour in the US, Canadian dollar 2 per hour in Canada, and 2 euros per hour in many EU countries.