In the late 1990s Andy Jassy pitched a wild idea to his boss and mentor, Jeff Bezos: what if Amazon developed another business…this one, in the cloud. Two decades later, it’s Amazon’s most profitable division – one that Jassy continues to head up as the CEO of Amazon Web Services. Jon Fortt sat down with
Wealth
La Reverie, the six-acre estate on Palm Beach stretches over 70,000 square feet. Handout Hedge fund billionaire Steven Schonfeld and his wife bought a sprawling Palm Beach estate for $111 million, making it the most expensive home ever sold in Florida. Schonfeld, the founder of New York-based Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, closed on the six acre-estate
Six of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies had a combined “tax gap” of more than $100 billion this decade, according to a new analysis. Fair Tax Mark, a British organization that certifies businesses for good tax conduct, assessed global tax payments from Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google and Microsoft between 2010 and 2019. The companies are
Rather than a wealth tax, successful businessman and businesswomen should be pushed to donate more, according to e-commerce billionaire Michael Rubin. “There has to be more pressure on entrepreneurs, when they create great value, to give back,” Rubin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday. “I always bank on an entrepreneur to give back and get
jeffbergen | E+ | Getty Images The average American is in poor financial health. Those with credit cards carry more than $5,5000 in debt and, according to the American Psychological Association, 81% of Americans say that money is a significant source of stress in their lives. Despite the struggle, the basics of personal finance are
LVMH chair Bernard Arnault speaks at the Viva Technology conference in June 2017 in Paris, France Chesnot | Getty Images Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of luxury goods brand LVMH, has overtaken Bill Gates to be named the world’s second-wealthiest person by Forbes. According to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List, the French businessman added an estimated
If you’re daydreaming about how you’d celebrate winning the Mega Millions jackpot, remember that Uncle Sam has a way of crashing the party. After about two months of twice-weekly drawings with no one matching all six numbers, the top prize has climbed to $226 million for Tuesday night’s drawing. Of course, the advertised amount isn’t
Armed with Peter Mayle’s 1989 best-seller A Year in Provence, my husband and I spent a romantic week in Provence in 1994. Newly love-smitten, we stayed in a quaint hotel overlooking the Rhône, enjoying breakfasts on our balcony by the river and strolling starry-eyed into the Place du Forum for dinner at the iconic Le
Passengers entering customs at Miami International Airport, ranked among the bottom five for immigration processing by Airside Mobile. JodiJacobson | iStock Unreleased | Getty Images If you’re traveling abroad this Thanksgiving weekend, you might want to think about waiting until the very last minute to fly home. That’s because you’ll find some of the shortest
Abigail Disney, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images Abigail Disney, the heiress to the world-renowned entertainment firm, has endorsed the proposed wealth tax from Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, slamming the wealthy people that are
Las Vegas isn’t the first place you’d think of to go on vacation alone. But earlier this year after a conference at one of the giant hotels on the Strip, I was curious to see Sin City through fresh eyes and decided to stay five more days — by myself. Being alone in an adults’
Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump were in Texas this week, in a high stakes photo-op at the factory in Austin where Apple’s Mac Pro computer is assembled. Cook no doubt wants to make it hard for the president to put tariffs on Mac Pro components. Cook has said unless Apple continues to
Lloyd Blankfein, former Goldman Sachs CEO, told CNBC on Tuesday the pay disparity between CEOs and rank-and-file employees is really no different from what on-air television personalities get paid compared with behind-the scenes workers. Defending well-paid CEOs, who have become punching bags in the wealth inequity discourse of the Democratic presidential primary race, Blankfein responded
The top 1% of taxpayers would likely avoid about $5 trillion in taxes over the next decade unless the IRS improves its enforcement, according to a new analysis. A research paper by Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, and finance professor Natasha Sarin found that lax enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service has led to
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers bashed presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren‘s tax proposals on Tuesday, arguing they go too far and could ultimately hurt the American economy. “I don’t think that taxation approaching confiscatory is remotely feasible and, if it was tried, would have catastrophic economic consequences,” the former economic advisor to Barack Obama said
Anton Petrus | Moment | Getty Images More than half of Americans are looking for adventure when it comes to travel in 2020, according to a new study from the Travel Channel. “That is up a little bit over last year,” said Mariel Clark, vice president of digital for HGTV and the Travel Channel, noting
The booming market for luxury rentals in Manhattan has led to a new market segment: the $100,000-a-month rental. Demand for ultra-luxury rentals is soaring in Manhattan as more wealthy buyers decide to sit on the sidelines and rent. At the same time, more sellers of trophy penthouses and pricey townhouses are opting to rent to
FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images There’s still time to shave a few bucks off your 2019 tax bill — if you act quickly. The 2018 tax season came with harsh lessons for some taxpayers who didn’t properly adjust their plans for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This overhaul of the tax code roughly
At America’s first Rolliefest, the rules are clear: Don’t reveal the location of the event on social media until it’s over. Last month, 110 watch collectors from 13 countries filed past armed guards at the Lotte New York Palace hotel in midtown Manhattan. There, some of the world’s most prominent watch collectors were gathered in
Marc Lasry, a billionaire and major Democratic donor, is the latest major Wall Street investor to warn about the damage the stock market could sustain if Elizabeth Warren were to win the presidency. Lasry, the co-founder of Avenue Capital who made his fortune putting money into distressed assets, told CNBC on Friday that a Warren