Jakarta –
Many industries have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. But there are also businesses that are making huge profits in times of a pandemic. Some people who were already rich became even richer, some suddenly made big profits, including some German businessmen. Here are seven people who benefited greatly from the Covid-19 pandemic.
1. Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (pictured with his partner Lauren Sanchez in front of the Taj Mahal) is certainly playing in a class of his own. His e-commerce company quickly took off during the Covid-19 pandemic. Amazon’s stock value continues to set new records, making Jeff Bezos the richest man, even richer during the coronavirus crisis, with a net worth of USD 193 billion according to Forbes magazine.
2. Elon Musk, Tesla
Elon Musk’s Tesla does make cars, but on the stock exchange, the company soars like a rocket launching into space. Tesla is among the companies that have benefited from the enthusiasm surrounding technology stocks during the pandemic. Some time ago, Elon Musk overtook Bill Gates (Microsoft) in the list of the world’s richest people and is now ranked second, with a fortune of around USD 132 billion.
3. Erci Yuan, Zoom
The increasing number of people working from home during the pandemic is a huge advantage for Eric Yuan. The Zoom founder moved from China to the US when he was 27 years old. After several years of working with WebEx, he launched his own video communication platform, Zoom, which was launched on the stock market in 2019. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, the value of its shares has exploded. Erci Yuan is estimated to have a fortune of around USD 19 billion.
4. John Foley, Peloton
In 2013, John Foley was still around promoting his fitness equipment. During a pandemic, when many people have to stay at home and many sports venues are closed, more and more people are buying home exercise equipment from Peloton. The company’s stock tripled during the pandemic, turning nearly 50-year-old John Foley a billionaire.
5. Tobias Lütke, Shopify
Shopify allows merchants to create their own online shop – a concept developed by Tobias Lütke. Born in Koblenz, Germany, he emigrated to Canada in 2002 and started growing his business from a garage. Today, Shopify is Canada’s most valuable company, with its share price doubling since March 2020. Forbes magazine estimates the fortune of 39-year-old Tobias Lütke to be around USD 9 billion.
6. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech
Early January this year, Ugur Sahin started developing a Covid-19 vaccine, with a company he founded with his wife, Özlem Türeci: BioNTech. At that time no one was detected infected with Covid-19 in Germany and Europe. But the business instincts of this Turkish-descent husband and wife are paying off. The value of their shares in BioNTech, in collaboration with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is estimated at USD 2.4 billion.
7. Dominik Richter, HelloFresh
Food service company HelloFresh immediately thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic. Profits more than tripled, according to the latest quarterly earnings report released early November. Co-founder and shareholder, Dominik Richter, managed to capitalize on a situation where many restaurants had to close or could only serve take-out food. Dominik Richter is not in the billionaires league yet, but he is on his way there.
hp/as (dwnews/Nicolas Martin)
(ita / ita)
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