Jeff Bezos warns of looming US recession: ‘Batten down the hatches’
Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos joined the growing chorus of business leaders who are warning the US economy is spiraling toward a debilitating recession.
Bezos provided his dire view while sharing a video of a CNBC interview with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who warned on Tuesday that he saw a “good chance” of an impending recession.
“Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches,” Bezos said.
Bezos still serves as executive chairman at Amazon — shares of which have fallen more than 33% since January during a broader stock market slump. Forbes ranks Bezos as the world’s third-richest person, with an estimated fortune of $137.9 billion.
Solomon detailed his view on the same day Goldman Sachs announced a major shakeup of its internal structure. The bank reported better-than-expected earnings — though its profits fell 43% and revenue declined 12% year-over-year.
“I think it’s a time to be cautious, and I think that if you’re running a risk-based business, it’s a time to think more cautiously about your risk box, your risk appetite,” Solomon said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“I think you have to expect that there’s more volatility on the horizon now,” Solomon added. “That doesn’t mean for sure that we have a really difficult economic scenario. But on the distribution of outcomes, there’s a good chance that we have a recession in the United States.”
Bezos and Solomon joined others who have warned a recession is imminent or already underway, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
As The Post reported, a Conference Board survey found nearly every US-based CEO expects a recession to occur within the next 12 to 18 months.
Meanwhile, President Biden and other members of his administration have continued to insist a recession is still avoidable.
Bezos has been outspoken about his economic views as conditions worsened over the last several months — even clashing with the Biden administration over its response to the situation.
In July, Bezos accused Biden of attempting “misdirection” by blaming gas companies for the higher prices Americans have faced at the pump.
“Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this,” Bezos tweeted at the time.
In May, Bezos and the White House traded public words after the Amazon boss pushed back on claims that raising corporate taxes would lower inflation.
