If there’s one thing that can be said for sure, it’s that Jeff Bezos knows how to follow his gut. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which Bezos founded in 1994, is one of the largest electronic commerce retailers in the world, and has allowed Mr. Bezos to become a billionaire with unfathomable financial resources at his disposal. The billionaire set up Amazon when the consumer adoption of the Internet was in its nascent stages, and persisted with the firm despite the numerous setbacks that he faced in the way.
Amazon’s history is full of interesting and unique facts that show Mr. Bezos’ peculiar way of thinking and how he built the corporate behemoth that we know today. In its early days, the company was an online bookseller, and faced a challenge of processing big orders from wholesalers that had a ten-book minimum condition. However, to avoid excessive costs, Mr. Bezos and his team discovered a rather interesting workaround, where they would order only one book of the title that they needed, and nine books that were out of stock.
The executive explained this workaround in an interview that he gave to Playboy in 1999, and in the conversation, he also shared his approach that let Amazon take on bookselling heavyweights such as Barnes & Noble. According to Mr. Bezos:
Some people thought we were toast, and they had a logical argument. Amazon.com had two good years—most companies don’t get a two-year window without any real competition—but then the fun was over. We were about to get creamed by the big guys. Barnes and Noble had a powerful, trusted brand name. Also, they had huge purchasing power. We were tiny. We had 125 employees and 340,000 customers and our revenues were 50 times smaller than Barnes and Noble’s. To put it in perspective, they had 30,000 employees and 10.7 million customers. Now we are only three times smaller than Barnes and Noble in terms of revenue. It’s because we didn’t look over our shoulder. We looked ahead, focused on our customers and obsessively did whatever we could to make them happy. I ask our folks here to wake up scared every morning with their sheets drenched in sweat. But I also ask them to be precise about what it is they are scared of—not our competitors, but our customers.
Since then, Mr. Bezos has come a long way. A year after his interview, he would go on to set up his aerospace firm Blue Origin. Blue Origin is currently fighting the heavyweights of the aerospace world, such as Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), for a foothold into the heavy lift rocket launch market and a slice of the pie for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Artemis program through which the agency plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. While it missed out on NASA’s first award for a lunar lander – and one which saw considerable controversy – Blue Origin is now competing for a new lander contract. At the same time, and perhaps as an indication of its founder’s futuristic mindset, Blue Origin has also perfected the method to manufacture solar panels on the Moon.
At the same time, Amazon is ramping up its satellite internet development efforts. Like SpaceX, Amazon’s Kuiper division also has a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet constellation. With the LEO satellite internet market estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.7% until 2028 to be worth $16.7 billion by the end of the forecast period, Kuiper received approval of an updated debris plan from the FCC in February 2023 – removing a crucial hurdle in its plans, and one that has been criticized by others, including SpaceX.
Today, we’ll take a look at what else is on Mr. Bezos’ mind apart from rockets and satellites. Some big ticket names among Bezos’ investments are Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY), and Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI).
Our Methodology
We looked at Mr. Bezos’ family office Bezos Expeditions’ stock holdings to pick some important companies he’s invested in. Almost all companies chosen are publicly listed firms, with a single exception picked out on the basis of its latest valuation. For more Jeff Bezos investments, head on over to Jeff Bezos’ Investments in 2022: 9 Companies Bezos Is Investing In.
Jeff Bezos Stock Portfolio: 10 Companies and Startups
10. Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT)
Market Capitalization as of February 19, 2023: $278 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders in Q3 2022: 11
Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT) is a biotechnology company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The firm develops products that enable the study of protein structures, as it aims to slice up proteins to the molecular level.
Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT) expanded its operational footprint in January 2023 when it announced that it is opening a new office in San Diego, California. The region houses other biotechnology firms as well, and Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT) already has another office in San Francisco, in addition to its headquarters in Seattle. 11 of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had invested in the firm in Q3 2022.
Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT)’s largest investor is Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors which owns 9.1 million shares that are worth $16.4 million.
Along with Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY), Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), and Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI), Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT) is a firm that Jeff Bezos is piling into.
9. Sonder Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SOND)
Market Capitalization as of February 19, 2023: $279 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders in Q3 2022: 20
Sonder Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SOND) is a hospitality firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company has thousands of units in its portfolio that are spread across multiple countries and it offers hotel bedrooms, studios, and multiple bedroom apartments to families, travelers, and others.
Sonder Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SOND) is currently facing a bit of a controversy after it was sued by a hotel operator in New Orleans in January 2023. The operator is accusing the firm of improperly managing his hotel and causing a loss of reputation. Insider Monkey took a look at 920 hedge funds for their third quarter of 2022 investments and found out that 20 had held a stake in the company.
8. Domo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOMO)
Market Capitalization as of February 19, 2023: $524 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders in Q3 2022: 20
Domo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOMO) is a software company that provides a cloud based platform. This allows its customers to improve data visibility into the organization, by letting high level executives access low level employee performance and other information right from the palm of their hand through a smartphone. The firm is based in American Fork, Utah.
Domo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOMO) further marketed the benefits offered by its platform in a research report that it released in February 2023. The firm claims that not only do almost half of all the employees surveyed believe they are in the dark about strategic business objectives, but the majority (62%) believe that their performance will improve if provided better insights.
Insider Monkey scoured through 920 hedge fund portfolios for last year’s third quarter to find out that 20 had bought Domo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOMO)’s shares.
Out of these, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management is Domo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOMO)’s largest investor. It owns a $14 million stake that comes via 1 million shares.
7. Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:KIND)
Market Capitalization as of February 19, 2023: $828 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders in Q3 2022: 22
Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:KIND) is a communications services platform provider. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and operates a neighborhood social networking service that allows neighbors to report on events and businesses and others to receive and share information.
Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:KIND) is aiming to outpace the average growth rate in its industry of 11% by growing at least 12% over the next three years according to details that the firm shared during its third quarter earnings report. While in 2022’s September quarter the firm managed to grow revenue by 2.4%, inflation struck the bottom line as its losses widened. Subsequently, Citi lowered the company’s share price target to $2.75 from $3.5 in November 2022. Insider Monkey’s Q3 2022 survey of 920 hedge funds revealed that 22 had held a stake in the company.
Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:KIND)’s largest investor in our database is Catherine D. Wood’s ARK Investment Management which owns 4.6 million shares that are worth $9.5 million.
6. Sana Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SANA)
Market Capitalization as of February 19, 2023: $835 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders in Q3 2022: 14
Sana Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SANA) is a healthcare company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The firm develops treatments for several complex diseases such as cancers, diabetes, and nervous system disorders.
Sana Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SANA) scored a big win in January 2023 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had cleared the firm’s investigational drug application for cancer treatment. By the end of 2022’s third quarter, 14 of the 920 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey had invested in the firm.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group is Sana Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SANA)’s largest investor with a $3.3 million stake that comes via 851,803 shares.
Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), Sana Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SANA), Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY), and Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) are some of Jeff Bezos’ top stock picks.
Click to continue reading and see Jeff Bezos Stock Portfolio: 5 Companies and Startups.
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Disclosure: None. Jeff Bezos Stock Portfolio: 10 Companies and Startups is originally published on Insider Monkey.