Several top executives and prominent figures around the world have been sending congratulatory messages to Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy via Twitter after the former announced he will stand aside as chief executive. Bezos will take up the role of executive chair in the third quarter and hand over the CEO role to Jassy, who currently heads Amazon Web Services.&nbsp;

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and others have congratulated Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his successor Andy Jassy on their new roles on Wednesday.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-to-step-down-360973">Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to step down</a>

In a communique to Amazon employees, Bezos said, he would 'stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives' but would pivot towards philanthropic initiatives, including the Day One Fund and Bezos Earth Fund, and other ventures in space exploration and journalism.&nbsp;

Pichai sent his best wishes for the two passion projects of the outgoing Amazon CEO, namely the Day One Fund and the Bezos Earth Fund.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/meet-andy-jassy-next-amazon-ceo-after-jeff-bezos-361003" hreflang="en">Meet Andy Jassy, next Amazon CEO after Jeff Bezos</a>

Noting Jassy's accomplishments, Nadella said, "a well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished." Benioff also took to Twitter to say, Amazon 'could not be in better hands’.&nbsp;

Bezos, 57, founded Amazon in his garage in 1994. He went on to grow it into a colossus, which dominates online retail, with operations in streaming music and television, robotics, artificial intelligence, groceries, cloud computing, and more.&nbsp;

In 1997, Jassy joined Amazon as a marketing manager and in 2003, he founded AWS, the cloud services division of the tech giant, which has been one of the most profitable, yet least-known units of the company.&nbsp;

Several top executives and prominent figures around the world have been sending congratulatory messages to Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy via Twitter after the former announced he will stand aside as chief executive.

Several top executives and prominent figures around the world have been sending congratulatory messages to Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy via Twitter after the former announced he will stand aside as chief executive. Bezos will take up the role of executive chair in the third quarter and hand over the CEO role to Jassy, who currently heads Amazon Web Services. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and others have congratulated Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his successor Andy Jassy on their new roles on Wednesday. Also read: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to step down In a communique to Amazon employees, Bezos said, he would 'stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives' but would pivot towards philanthropic initiatives, including the Day One Fund and Bezos Earth Fund, and other ventures in space exploration and journalism. Pichai sent his best wishes for the two passion projects of the outgoing Amazon CEO, namely the Day One Fund and the Bezos Earth Fund. Also read: Meet Andy Jassy, next Amazon CEO after Jeff Bezos Noting Jassy's accomplishments, Nadella said, "a well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished." Benioff also took to Twitter to say, Amazon 'could not be in better hands’. Bezos, 57, founded Amazon in his garage in 1994. He went on to grow it into a colossus, which dominates online retail, with operations in streaming music and television, robotics, artificial intelligence, groceries, cloud computing, and more. In 1997, Jassy joined Amazon as a marketing manager and in 2003, he founded AWS, the cloud services division of the tech giant, which has been one of the most profitable, yet least-known units of the company.

Pichai, Nadella join bigwigs in congratulating Bezos, Jassy

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Tuesday announced the first commercial astronaut mission to orbit Earth aboard Dragon spacecraft.

According to SpaceX, this mission will enable&nbsp;access for ''everyday people who dream of going to space''.

US billionaire Jared Isaacman, who will be the space commander for this mission is paying for the entire flight, plans to take three people along with him. He aims to use the multi-day trip to raise $200 million for St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee.

The four crew members will receive ''emergency preparedness'' training on SpaceX's Falcon 9&nbsp; and Dragon spacecraft before blasting off Kennedy Space Station in Florida.&nbsp;

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/elon-musk-and-jeff-bezos-are-fighting-against-each-other-over-space-real-estate-359556">Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are fighting against each other over space real estate</a>

The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station.

“It will be the first mission to fly two international partner crew members as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program,” NASA announced.

The announcement comes after billionaire&nbsp;Jeff&nbsp;Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin said it&nbsp;aims to carry the first passengers on its New Shepard space vehicle as early as April.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-launches-a-rocket-that-could-fly-first-space-passengers-by-april-356788">Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches a rocket that could fly first space passengers by April</a>

Blue Origin completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule on Thursday, marking one of the last remaining steps before the company flies its first crew to space, the report said.

It said that it aims to launch the second test flight within six weeks, or by late February, and the first crewed flight six weeks after that, or by early April.

Bezos aims to provide government and private customers low-cost access to space, though he trails rival billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing founder and CEO of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff&nbsp;Bezos&nbsp;to become the world's wealthiest person

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Tuesday announced the first commercial astronaut mission to orbit Earth aboard Dragon spacecraft. According to SpaceX, this mission will enable access for ''everyday people who dream of going to space''.

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Tuesday announced the first commercial astronaut mission to orbit Earth aboard Dragon spacecraft. According to SpaceX, this mission will enable access for ''everyday people who dream of going to space''. US billionaire Jared Isaacman, who will be the space commander for this mission is paying for the entire flight, plans to take three people along with him. He aims to use the multi-day trip to raise $200 million for St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee. The four crew members will receive ''emergency preparedness'' training on SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft before blasting off Kennedy Space Station in Florida. Also read: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are fighting against each other over space real estate The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station. “It will be the first mission to fly two international partner crew members as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program,” NASA announced. The announcement comes after billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin said it aims to carry the first passengers on its New Shepard space vehicle as early as April. Also read: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches a rocket that could fly first space passengers by April Blue Origin completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule on Thursday, marking one of the last remaining steps before the company flies its first crew to space, the report said. It said that it aims to launch the second test flight within six weeks, or by late February, and the first crewed flight six weeks after that, or by early April. Bezos aims to provide government and private customers low-cost access to space, though he trails rival billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Earlier this month, Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing founder and CEO of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world's wealthiest person

SpaceX announces first commercial astronaut mission to orbit Earth

The world's two richest men Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are sparring over&nbsp;space real estate, with SpaceX accusing Amazon of ''stifling competition''.

Starlink is SpaceX's ambitious project to launch and operate its own network of broadband satellites, which will provide low-cost Internet to remote locations on a global level.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/spacex-confirms-putting-60-new-starlink-internet-satellites-into-orbit-303249">SpaceX confirms putting 60 new Starlink Internet satellites into orbit</a>

Amazon.com Inc is set to invest more than $10 billion to build a network of 3,236 satellites that will provide high-speed broadband internet services to people around the world who lack such access.

The announcement follows the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the plan, called "Project Kuiper", for the constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that will compete with the Starlink network being built out by Elon Musk's SpaceX.&nbsp;

As a result of a proposed change in SpaceX's plan of launching&nbsp;broadband satellites, it might clash with Amazon.

Musk took to Twiter to express his frustration saying&nbsp;"It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation."

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It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1354018055014260738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Amazon hit back saying&nbsp;"The facts are simple. We designed the Kuiper System to avoid interference with Starlink, and now SpaceX wants to change the design of its system.&nbsp;Those changes not only create a more dangerous environment for collisions in space, but they also increase radio interference for customers."

In a statement issued by Amazon, it said:&nbsp;"Despite what SpaceX posts on Twitter, it is SpaceX's proposed changes that would hamstring competition among satellite systems. It is clearly in SpaceX's interest to smother competition in the cradle if they can, but it is certainly not in the public's interest."

By comparison, SpaceX has launched over 500 satellites of the roughly 12,000 expected for its Starlink constellation in low Earth orbit and plans to offer broadband service in the United States and Canada by the year's end. The FCC approved SpaceX's request in 2018.

While extremely costly to deploy, satellite technology can provide high-speed internet for people who live in rural or hard-to-serve places where fiber optic cables and cell towers do not reach. The technology could also be a critical backstop when hurricanes or other natural disasters disrupts communication.

The FCC authorisation, adopted with a 5-0 vote, requires Amazon to launch half of its satellites no later than mid-2026 and build out the rest of the constellation by mid-2029.

Amazon said it would begin to offer broadband service once 578 satellites are launched. It had 110 open positions for its "Project Kuiper" posted on its website Thursday. The satellites will be designed and tested at a new research and development facility opening in Redmond, Washington.

The world's two richest men Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are sparring over space real estate, with SpaceX accusing Amazon of ''stifling competition''. Starlink is SpaceX's ambitious project to launch and operate its own network of broadband satellites, which will provide low-cost Internet to remote locations on a global level.

The world's two richest men Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are sparring over space real estate, with SpaceX accusing Amazon of ''stifling competition''. Starlink is SpaceX's ambitious project to launch and operate its own network of broadband satellites, which will provide low-cost Internet to remote locations on a global level. Also read: SpaceX confirms putting 60 new Starlink Internet satellites into orbit Amazon.com Inc is set to invest more than $10 billion to build a network of 3,236 satellites that will provide high-speed broadband internet services to people around the world who lack such access. The announcement follows the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the plan, called "Project Kuiper", for the constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that will compete with the Starlink network being built out by Elon Musk's SpaceX. As a result of a proposed change in SpaceX's plan of launching broadband satellites, it might clash with Amazon. Musk took to Twiter to express his frustration saying "It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation." It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2021 × Amazon hit back saying "The facts are simple. We designed the Kuiper System to avoid interference with Starlink, and now SpaceX wants to change the design of its system. Those changes not only create a more dangerous environment for collisions in space, but they also increase radio interference for customers." In a statement issued by Amazon, it said: "Despite what SpaceX posts on Twitter, it is SpaceX's proposed changes that would hamstring competition among satellite systems. It is clearly in SpaceX's interest to smother competition in the cradle if they can, but it is certainly not in the public's interest." By comparison, SpaceX has launched over 500 satellites of the roughly 12,000 expected for its Starlink constellation in low Earth orbit and plans to offer broadband service in the United States and Canada by the year's end. The FCC approved SpaceX's request in 2018. While extremely costly to deploy, satellite technology can provide high-speed internet for people who live in rural or hard-to-serve places where fiber optic cables and cell towers do not reach. The technology could also be a critical backstop when hurricanes or other natural disasters disrupts communication. The FCC authorisation, adopted with a 5-0 vote, requires Amazon to launch half of its satellites no later than mid-2026 and build out the rest of the constellation by mid-2029. Amazon said it would begin to offer broadband service once 578 satellites are launched. It had 110 open positions for its "Project Kuiper" posted on its website Thursday. The satellites will be designed and tested at a new research and development facility opening in Redmond, Washington.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are fighting against each other over space real estate

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin has just launched a rocket called 'Mannequin Skywalker' that could make way for space tourism flights this year.

Blue Origin completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule on Thursday, marking one of the last remaining steps before the company flies its first crew to space.

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Congrats to the Blue Origin team on another successful launch. One step closer. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NewShepard?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NewShepard</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LaunchLandRepeat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LaunchLandRepeat</a>
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) <a href="https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1349771121646841856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Sara Blask, a spokesperson for Blue Origin said: "The capsule will be outfitted with upgrades to the crew capsule for the astronaut experience as the program nears human space flight."

"The upgrades include improvements to environmental features such as acoustics and temperature regulation inside the capsule, crew display panels, and speakers with a microphone and push-to-talk button at each seat."

Bezos&nbsp;aims to carry the first passengers on its New Shepard space vehicle as early as April. The company offered no details on Wednesday about how it would move from the design phase to moon missions in this time frame.

Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Bezos, Amazon.com Inc’s chief executive, has launched and landed its suborbital rocket New Shepard more than a dozen times, and aims to complete development of its much bigger workhorse orbital rocket, New Glenn, by next year.

Bezos aims to provide government and private customers low-cost access to space, though he trails rival billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Blue has vied for lucrative government contracts in recent years and is competing with SpaceX and Leidos-owned Dynetics to win a contract to build NASA’s next human lunar landing system to ferry humans to the moon in the next decade.

In April, NASA awarded a lunar lander development contract to Blue Origin’s team worth $579 million, as well as two other companies: SpaceX which received $135 million to help develop its Starship system and Leidos-owned Dynetics which won $253 million.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin has just launched a rocket called 'Mannequin Skywalker' that could make way for space tourism flights this year.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin has just launched a rocket called 'Mannequin Skywalker' that could make way for space tourism flights this year. Blue Origin completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule on Thursday, marking one of the last remaining steps before the company flies its first crew to space. Congrats to the Blue Origin team on another successful launch. One step closer. #NewShepard #LaunchLandRepeat — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) January 14, 2021 × Sara Blask, a spokesperson for Blue Origin said: "The capsule will be outfitted with upgrades to the crew capsule for the astronaut experience as the program nears human space flight." "The upgrades include improvements to environmental features such as acoustics and temperature regulation inside the capsule, crew display panels, and speakers with a microphone and push-to-talk button at each seat." Bezos aims to carry the first passengers on its New Shepard space vehicle as early as April. The company offered no details on Wednesday about how it would move from the design phase to moon missions in this time frame. Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Bezos, Amazon.com Inc’s chief executive, has launched and landed its suborbital rocket New Shepard more than a dozen times, and aims to complete development of its much bigger workhorse orbital rocket, New Glenn, by next year. Bezos aims to provide government and private customers low-cost access to space, though he trails rival billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Blue has vied for lucrative government contracts in recent years and is competing with SpaceX and Leidos-owned Dynetics to win a contract to build NASA’s next human lunar landing system to ferry humans to the moon in the next decade. In April, NASA awarded a lunar lander development contract to Blue Origin’s team worth $579 million, as well as two other companies: SpaceX which received $135 million to help develop its Starship system and Leidos-owned Dynetics which won $253 million.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches a rocket that could fly first space passengers by April

Elon musk has become the world's richest person with a net worth of 188.5 billion dollars. This 49-year-old billionaire is making inroads into every sector.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The Tesla chief has surpassed Amazon's top boss -- Jeff Bezos -- to clinch this title. He now has a net worth of more than 188.5 billion dollars. This is more 1.5 billion dollars more than Jeff Bezos.

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Much of the credit goes to an 8-fold surge in the shares of Tesla last year. In 2020, Tesla became the world's most valuable carmaker. The surge has boosted the personal wealth of Elon Musk --- who owns a 20 per cent stake in his company and about 42 billion dollars of unrealised paper gains on vested stocks.

According to Bloomberg, Tesla shares went further up to 7.4 per cent on Thursday to reach a record high of 811 billion dollars. But Tesla accounts for only a fraction of Elon Musk's wealth. The 49-year-old billionaire owns and is developing some of the most futuristic companies in the world that will further increase his wealth.

In the Aerospace, sector Musk owns Space X &nbsp;a rocket company that is planning to build a 'freeway' to Mars -- by reducing the cost of flying a spaceship to a fraction.

In the telecommunication sector --- musk is developing a satellite internet constellation known as Starlink --- this is how people got online and provide fast &amp; affordable internet.

In the energy sector --- Musk owns 'SolarCity'' &nbsp;---- a project that will make solar power mainstream and pervasive.

In the transportation sector --- musk has proposed the 'hyperloop' --- the fifth mode of transportation that could convey people or objects at hypersonic speeds.

In the infrastructure sector --- musk owns 'the boring company' --- which aims to develop safe -- fast to dig &amp; low-cost transportation tunnels.

In the healthcare sector ---- musk owns neura-link ---- which is developing high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces --- that will link the human brain directly to computers.

Elon musk has become the world's richest person with a net worth of 188.5 billion dollars. This 49-year-old billionaire is making inroads into every sector. The Tesla chief has surpassed Amazon's top boss -- Jeff Bezos -- to clinch this title.

Elon musk has become the world's richest person with a net worth of 188.5 billion dollars. This 49-year-old billionaire is making inroads into every sector. The Tesla chief has surpassed Amazon's top boss -- Jeff Bezos -- to clinch this title. He now has a net worth of more than 188.5 billion dollars. This is more 1.5 billion dollars more than Jeff Bezos. Much of the credit goes to an 8-fold surge in the shares of Tesla last year. In 2020, Tesla became the world's most valuable carmaker. The surge has boosted the personal wealth of Elon Musk --- who owns a 20 per cent stake in his company and about 42 billion dollars of unrealised paper gains on vested stocks. According to Bloomberg, Tesla shares went further up to 7.4 per cent on Thursday to reach a record high of 811 billion dollars. But Tesla accounts for only a fraction of Elon Musk's wealth. The 49-year-old billionaire owns and is developing some of the most futuristic companies in the world that will further increase his wealth. In the Aerospace, sector Musk owns Space X a rocket company that is planning to build a 'freeway' to Mars -- by reducing the cost of flying a spaceship to a fraction. In the telecommunication sector --- musk is developing a satellite internet constellation known as Starlink --- this is how people got online and provide fast & affordable internet. In the energy sector --- Musk owns 'SolarCity'' ---- a project that will make solar power mainstream and pervasive. In the transportation sector --- musk has proposed the 'hyperloop' --- the fifth mode of transportation that could convey people or objects at hypersonic speeds. In the infrastructure sector --- musk owns 'the boring company' --- which aims to develop safe -- fast to dig & low-cost transportation tunnels. In the healthcare sector ---- musk owns neura-link ---- which is developing high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces --- that will link the human brain directly to computers.

Tesla chief Elon Musk dethrones Jeff Bezos to become world's richest person

Tesla Inc chief and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk surpassed Amazon.com Inc's top boss Jeff Bezos to become the world's richest man, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves behind Amazon's Bezos to become world's richest person

Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing founder and CEO of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world's wealthiest person, US media reported Thursday.

Musk is a major shareholder of the electric car company and has benefited from Tesla's surging share price over the last year. CNBC estimated his wealth at $185 billion.

The distinction is the latest superlative for the South African-born Musk, who also leads the aerospace venture SpaceX.&nbsp;

Tesla is widely seen as a pacesetter for the car industry as conventional automakers try to catch up in electric autos.

Tesla had a strong 2020 as it ramped up production, broke ground on new factories and reported a series of profitable quarters and was added to the prestigious S&amp;P 500 index.&nbsp;

That enabled shares to rise more than 700 per cent during the year, making it more valuable that the world's top carmakers combined.

Overcoming controversy&nbsp;

Musk has hit a stride after stumbling in 2018, when US securities regulators required the Tesla chief to step down as chairman and pay $20 million to settle charges he defrauded investors with false claims on Twitter in August about a possible bid to take the company private, which was quickly aborted.

Musk also was embroiled in a messy public fight over his comments about a British caver, who had mocked the Tesla CEO's offer of a mini-submarine to rescue young soccer players trapped in a cave in Thailand in the summer of 2018.

The caver, Vernon Unsworth, sued Musk after the Tesla chief called him "pedo guy" on social media, but a California jury in December 2019 ruled the remark was not defamation.

Musk put these controversies behind him last year as Tesla significantly boosted output at car factories in California and Shanghai and moved ahead to build new factories in Texas and Germany.

Tesla watchers do not think Musk will be able to match the massive valuation surge in 2021, but expect continued progress as the carmaker adds production capacity and pushes the envelope on new technologies, including autonomous autos.

Still, several analysts consider the stock to be overvalued, even if they praise the company.

"Tesla's performance in 2020 was impressive, but not as impressive as the increase in its shares, which we continue to believe are overvalued," said a note earlier this week from JPMorgan Chase, which has an "underweight" on the equity.

Shares of Tesla surged 6.3 per cent to $803.78 in late morning trading, lifting the company's market capitalization above $750 billion.&nbsp;

Musk holds about 21 per cent of Tesla's shares, according to a securities filing.

Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing founder and CEO of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world's wealthiest person, US media reported Thursday.

Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing founder and CEO of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world's wealthiest person, US media reported Thursday. Musk is a major shareholder of the electric car company and has benefited from Tesla's surging share price over the last year. CNBC estimated his wealth at $185 billion. The distinction is the latest superlative for the South African-born Musk, who also leads the aerospace venture SpaceX. Tesla is widely seen as a pacesetter for the car industry as conventional automakers try to catch up in electric autos. Tesla had a strong 2020 as it ramped up production, broke ground on new factories and reported a series of profitable quarters and was added to the prestigious S&P 500 index. That enabled shares to rise more than 700 per cent during the year, making it more valuable that the world's top carmakers combined. Overcoming controversy Musk has hit a stride after stumbling in 2018, when US securities regulators required the Tesla chief to step down as chairman and pay $20 million to settle charges he defrauded investors with false claims on Twitter in August about a possible bid to take the company private, which was quickly aborted. Musk also was embroiled in a messy public fight over his comments about a British caver, who had mocked the Tesla CEO's offer of a mini-submarine to rescue young soccer players trapped in a cave in Thailand in the summer of 2018. The caver, Vernon Unsworth, sued Musk after the Tesla chief called him "pedo guy" on social media, but a California jury in December 2019 ruled the remark was not defamation. Musk put these controversies behind him last year as Tesla significantly boosted output at car factories in California and Shanghai and moved ahead to build new factories in Texas and Germany. Tesla watchers do not think Musk will be able to match the massive valuation surge in 2021, but expect continued progress as the carmaker adds production capacity and pushes the envelope on new technologies, including autonomous autos. Still, several analysts consider the stock to be overvalued, even if they praise the company. "Tesla's performance in 2020 was impressive, but not as impressive as the increase in its shares, which we continue to believe are overvalued," said a note earlier this week from JPMorgan Chase, which has an "underweight" on the equity. Shares of Tesla surged 6.3 per cent to $803.78 in late morning trading, lifting the company's market capitalization above $750 billion. Musk holds about 21 per cent of Tesla's shares, according to a securities filing.

Elon Musk becomes world's richest person: Reports

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is close to surpassing Amazon.com Inc's billionaire Chief Executive&nbsp;Jeff&nbsp;Bezos as the world's richest person.

Electric carmaker Tesla closed trading on Wednesday with a market value topping $700 billion for the first time.&nbsp;Tesla's share price ended with a gain of 2.8 per cent to $755.98 for a total value of whopping $717 billion.

The boost in the market value of Tesla enabled Musk to be within a range of $3 million of Bezos who currently occupied the top spot of Bloomberg's Billionaire's Index.

An over 670 per cent&nbsp;jump in Tesla shares this year has boosted Musk's net worth from $27 billion to $155 billion, just behind Amazon.com Inc's&nbsp;Jeff&nbsp;Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

After shares rocketed higher in 2020 on surging auto deliveries, Tesla enters 2021 with plenty of momentum even as its vision of taking electric cars mainstream remains a way off.

The auto industry disruptor led by&nbsp;Elon&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;wowed Wall Street yet again over the weekend, reporting annual car deliveries of 499,550, just shy of its 2020 target of half a million, but well above analyst estimates.

The disclosure capped a year that saw Tesla report a series of profitable quarters and join the S&amp;P 500, establishing the company as one of the world's most valuable businesses and elevating&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;to the second-wealthiest person behind Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Aerospace companies such as Musk's SpaceX and&nbsp;Bezos' Blue Origin are aiming to become the first private firm to launch a human into space.

Super-rich businesspeople including Tesla Inc chief executive Elon Musk and Amazon.com Inc founder&nbsp;Jeff&nbsp;Bezos&nbsp;who want to colonise space to support human life are pouring cash into cutting-edge private spacecraft.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is close to surpassing Amazon.com Inc's billionaire Chief Executive Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person. Electric carmaker Tesla closed trading on Wednesday with a market value topping $700 billion for the first time.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is close to surpassing Amazon.com Inc's billionaire Chief Executive Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person. Electric carmaker Tesla closed trading on Wednesday with a market value topping $700 billion for the first time. Tesla's share price ended with a gain of 2.8 per cent to $755.98 for a total value of whopping $717 billion. The boost in the market value of Tesla enabled Musk to be within a range of $3 million of Bezos who currently occupied the top spot of Bloomberg's Billionaire's Index. An over 670 per cent jump in Tesla shares this year has boosted Musk's net worth from $27 billion to $155 billion, just behind Amazon.com Inc's Jeff Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. After shares rocketed higher in 2020 on surging auto deliveries, Tesla enters 2021 with plenty of momentum even as its vision of taking electric cars mainstream remains a way off. The auto industry disruptor led by Elon Musk wowed Wall Street yet again over the weekend, reporting annual car deliveries of 499,550, just shy of its 2020 target of half a million, but well above analyst estimates. The disclosure capped a year that saw Tesla report a series of profitable quarters and join the S&P 500, establishing the company as one of the world's most valuable businesses and elevating Musk to the second-wealthiest person behind Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Aerospace companies such as Musk's SpaceX and Bezos' Blue Origin are aiming to become the first private firm to launch a human into space. Super-rich businesspeople including Tesla Inc chief executive Elon Musk and Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos who want to colonise space to support human life are pouring cash into cutting-edge private spacecraft.

Elon Musk is close to surpassing Jeff Bezos as world's richest person

Dozens of people have sued Amazon's Ring smart cameras over&nbsp;''horrific'' invasions of privacy such as receiving threats and racial slurs.

A new class-action lawsuit, which consolidates various cases recorded as of late, affirms that careless safety efforts at Ring, which is possessed by Amazon, permitted programmers to assume control over their gadgets. Ring provides&nbsp;home security as keen cameras that are regularly introduced on doorbells or inside individuals' homes.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amazons-smart-assistant-device-alexa-scaring-users-with-creepy-laugh-35253">Amazon's smart assistant Alexa scaring users with 'creepy laugh'</a>

The suit against Ring expands on past cases, combining grievances documented by in excess of 30 individuals in 15 families who state their gadgets were hacked and used to bother them. Because of these assaults, Ring "accused the people in question, and offered deficient reactions and false clarifications", the suit charges. The offended parties additionally guarantee the organization has likewise neglected to enough refresh its safety efforts in the repercussions of such hacks.&nbsp;

Individuals who could profit by the claim incorporate the families named for the situation, just as some other Ring clients who have been hacked. The class likewise covers the huge number of clients who bought a Ring doorbell somewhere in the range of 2015 and 2019, regardless of whether they were not hacked.&nbsp;

"I would envision that there are significantly more individuals out there who have been hacked," said Hassan Zavareei, the lead lawyer working on it. "This is most likely a hint of something larger."&nbsp;

The suit diagrams instances of programmers assuming control over Ring cameras, shouting vulgarities, requesting ransoms, and undermining murder and rape.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/privacy-apps-you-needed-to-have-downloaded-in-2020-352014" hreflang="en">Privacy apps you needed to have downloaded in 2020</a>

One Ring client says he was asked through his camera as he stared at the TV one evening, "What are you watching?" Another asserts his kids were tended to by an obscure programmer through the gadget, who remarked on their ball play and urged them to move toward the camera.&nbsp;

In one case, a more seasoned lady at a helped living office was supposedly told: "around evening time you kick the bucket" and explicitly irritated through the camera. Because of the trouble brought about by the hack, she eventually needed to move back in with her family, feeling hazardous in the office where she once lived.&nbsp;

In another incident, an offended party who had bought a Ring gadget to watch out for her four-year-old little girl with a background marked by seizures asserts that music from a blood and gore movie was played through her camera. Her grumbling peruses:&nbsp;

On December 4, 2019, soon after 8 pm, while Ms LeMay was getting things done, both of the Ring gadgets started live-streaming. All the while, the Tiny Tim front of "Pussyfoot Through the Tulips", a melody that showed up in a scene from the 2020 blood and gore movie "Tricky", started to play through the two-way talk highlight. Interested by the music, Ms LeMay's eight-year-old girl, AL, went to the room she imparts to two of her more youthful sisters to research. However, the room was unfilled. As AL meandered the room, searching for the wellspring of the music, the tune unexpectedly halted, and a man's voice rang out: "Hi."&nbsp;

LeMay promptly changed passwords and called Ring that day to report the hack, however she didn't get a reaction for almost seven days. The organization never revealed to LeMay where the hack started or how it happened, the objection affirms. The offended party at last needed to relinquish her position in view of the passionate pain, the protest said.&nbsp;

Ring has not said who is behind the hacks, and casualties state they actually don't have a clue who got to their homes through the gadgets.&nbsp;

Over and again, Ring censured casualties for not utilizing adequately solid passwords, the suit claims. It says Ring ought to have expected clients to set up convoluted passwords when setting up the gadgets and actualize two-factor verification, which adds a second layer of security utilizing a second type of distinguishing proof, for example, a telephone number.&nbsp;

In any case, as the claim asserts, Ring was hacked in 2019 – which means the taken accreditations from that break may have been utilized to get into clients' cameras. That implies the hacks that Ring has supposedly accused on clients may have been brought about by Ring itself. A representative said the organization didn't remark on continuous suit.&nbsp;

The claim additionally refers to explore from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others that Ring disregards client security by utilizing various outsider trackers on its application.&nbsp;

The suit said that, as of now, Ring "has not adequately improved its security rehearses or reacted satisfactorily to the progressing dangers its items posture to its clients". Security and protection specialists have additionally censured Ring's reaction.&nbsp;

"After a large number of alarming features about their helpless security works on, Ring has at last made a few upgrades," said Evan Greer, the agent head of the protection support bunch Fight for the Future. "However, executing fundamental security that they ought to have had in any case never really change the way that Ring cameras make networks less protected, not more protected."&nbsp;

Notwithstanding hacking concerns, Ring has confronted expanding analysis for its developing reconnaissance organization with police powers. Ring has now made law implementation associations, which permit clients to send film and photographs to police, in excess of 1,300 urban areas.&nbsp;

"Ring's observation based plan of action is on a very basic level contrary with social equality and popular government," Greer said. "These gadgets, and the speculation behind them, should be liquefied down and never dis

Dozens of people have sued Amazon's Ring smart cameras over ''horrific'' invasions of privacy such as receiving threats and racial slurs. A new class-action lawsuit, which consolidates various cases recorded as of late, affirms that careless safety efforts at Ring, which is possessed by Amazon, permitted programmers to assume control over their gadgets.

Dozens of people have sued Amazon's Ring smart cameras over ''horrific'' invasions of privacy such as receiving threats and racial slurs. A new class-action lawsuit, which consolidates various cases recorded as of late, affirms that careless safety efforts at Ring, which is possessed by Amazon, permitted programmers to assume control over their gadgets. Ring provides home security as keen cameras that are regularly introduced on doorbells or inside individuals' homes. Also read: Amazon's smart assistant Alexa scaring users with 'creepy laugh' The suit against Ring expands on past cases, combining grievances documented by in excess of 30 individuals in 15 families who state their gadgets were hacked and used to bother them. Because of these assaults, Ring "accused the people in question, and offered deficient reactions and false clarifications", the suit charges. The offended parties additionally guarantee the organization has likewise neglected to enough refresh its safety efforts in the repercussions of such hacks. Individuals who could profit by the claim incorporate the families named for the situation, just as some other Ring clients who have been hacked. The class likewise covers the huge number of clients who bought a Ring doorbell somewhere in the range of 2015 and 2019, regardless of whether they were not hacked. "I would envision that there are significantly more individuals out there who have been hacked," said Hassan Zavareei, the lead lawyer working on it. "This is most likely a hint of something larger." The suit diagrams instances of programmers assuming control over Ring cameras, shouting vulgarities, requesting ransoms, and undermining murder and rape. Also read: Privacy apps you needed to have downloaded in 2020 One Ring client says he was asked through his camera as he stared at the TV one evening, "What are you watching?" Another asserts his kids were tended to by an obscure programmer through the gadget, who remarked on their ball play and urged them to move toward the camera. In one case, a more seasoned lady at a helped living office was supposedly told: "around evening time you kick the bucket" and explicitly irritated through the camera. Because of the trouble brought about by the hack, she eventually needed to move back in with her family, feeling hazardous in the office where she once lived. In another incident, an offended party who had bought a Ring gadget to watch out for her four-year-old little girl with a background marked by seizures asserts that music from a blood and gore movie was played through her camera. Her grumbling peruses: On December 4, 2019, soon after 8 pm, while Ms LeMay was getting things done, both of the Ring gadgets started live-streaming. All the while, the Tiny Tim front of "Pussyfoot Through the Tulips", a melody that showed up in a scene from the 2020 blood and gore movie "Tricky", started to play through the two-way talk highlight. Interested by the music, Ms LeMay's eight-year-old girl, AL, went to the room she imparts to two of her more youthful sisters to research. However, the room was unfilled. As AL meandered the room, searching for the wellspring of the music, the tune unexpectedly halted, and a man's voice rang out: "Hi." LeMay promptly changed passwords and called Ring that day to report the hack, however she didn't get a reaction for almost seven days. The organization never revealed to LeMay where the hack started or how it happened, the objection affirms. The offended party at last needed to relinquish her position in view of the passionate pain, the protest said. Ring has not said who is behind the hacks, and casualties state they actually don't have a clue who got to their homes through the gadgets. Over and again, Ring censured casualties for not utilizing adequately solid passwords, the suit claims. It says Ring ought to have expected clients to set up convoluted passwords when setting up the gadgets and actualize two-factor verification, which adds a second layer of security utilizing a second type of distinguishing proof, for example, a telephone number. In any case, as the claim asserts, Ring was hacked in 2019 – which means the taken accreditations from that break may have been utilized to get into clients' cameras. That implies the hacks that Ring has supposedly accused on clients may have been brought about by Ring itself. A representative said the organization didn't remark on continuous suit. The claim additionally refers to explore from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others that Ring disregards client security by utilizing various outsider trackers on its application. The suit said that, as of now, Ring "has not adequately improved its security rehearses or reacted satisfactorily to the progressing dangers its items posture to its clients". Security and protection specialists have additionally censured Ring's reaction. "After a large number of alarming features about their helpless security works on, Ring has at last made a few upgrades," said Evan Greer, the agent head of the protection support bunch Fight for the Future. "However, executing fundamental security that they ought to have had in any case never really change the way that Ring cameras make networks less protected, not more protected." Notwithstanding hacking concerns, Ring has confronted expanding analysis for its developing reconnaissance organization with police powers. Ring has now made law implementation associations, which permit clients to send film and photographs to police, in excess of 1,300 urban areas. "Ring's observation based plan of action is on a very basic level contrary with social equality and popular government," Greer said. "These gadgets, and the speculation behind them, should be liquefied down and never dis

Dozens sue Amazon's Ring smart cameras over 'horrific' invasions of privacy

MacKenzie Scott, a venture philanthropist and the&nbsp;ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff&nbsp;Bezos, said Tuesday she has given $4.2 billion to groups helping the vulnerable as the pandemic hits lives like "a wrecking ball."

In a <a href="https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/384-ways-to-help-45d0b9ac6ad8">blog entry</a>, Scott said she needed to help Americans who were battling a direct result of the pandemic.&nbsp;

MacKenzie Scott is the world's eighteenth most extravagant individual, having seen her wealth climb from $23.6 billion this year to $60.7 billion.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/elon-musk-becomes-worlds-third-richest-man-bezos-ex-wife-now-worlds-richest-woman-324475">Elon Musk becomes world's third richest man; Bezos' ex-wife now world's richest woman</a>

Quite a bit of her fortune comes from Jeff&nbsp;Bezos who is the world's most extravagant man and Amazon's CEO.&nbsp;

"This pandemic has been a destroying ball in the lives of Americans previously battling," she wrote in a blog entry on Tuesday, adding that she had picked in excess of 380 foundations to give to having thought about right around 6,500 associations.&nbsp;

"Financial misfortunes and wellbeing results the same have been more terrible for ladies, for non-white individuals and for individuals living in destitution. In the interim, it has considerably expanded the abundance of tycoons."&nbsp;

Scott, who formerly went by the name MacKenzie&nbsp;Bezos, last year signed a "giving pledge" to donate the bulk of her wealth to charity.

In a round of donations early this year, Scott gave nearly $1.7 billion to groups devoted to race, gender and economic equality, as well as other social causes.

"This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling," Scott said in a <a href="https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/384-ways-to-help-45d0b9ac6ad8">post</a>&nbsp;detailing her second round of giving this year.

"Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty."

Meanwhile, she noted, the wealth of billionaires has substantially increased.

Such billionaires include her ex-husband, although Scott did not mention his name.&nbsp;Bezos's wealth has reportedly grown almost 80 percent during the pandemic.

Scott said she enlisted a team of advisors that helped identify 384 organizations across the US that support people suffering from the economic toll of the pandemic.

Special attention was given to organisations working to combat hunger, poverty and racial inequity in communities, according to Scott.

Targets for support included food banks, employment training services, legal defense funds, debt relief programs and civil rights advocacy groups.

The groups that received donations "have dedicated their lives to helping others, working and volunteering and serving real people face-to-face at bedsides and tables, in prisons and courtrooms and classrooms, on streets and hospital wards and hotlines and frontlines of all types and sizes, day after day after day," Scott said.

Scott was left a multi-billionaire after her divorce last year from&nbsp;Bezos.

She ranked 20th on a Forbes real-time list of the world's richest people index on Tuesday, with a net worth of $56 billion -- after taking her latest donations&nbsp;into account. Bezos&nbsp;was at the top of that list with a net worth of $185 billion.

MacKenzie Scott, a venture philanthropist and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said Tuesday she has given $4.2 billion to groups helping the vulnerable as the pandemic hits lives like "a wrecking ball.

MacKenzie Scott, a venture philanthropist and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said Tuesday she has given $4.2 billion to groups helping the vulnerable as the pandemic hits lives like "a wrecking ball." In a blog entry, Scott said she needed to help Americans who were battling a direct result of the pandemic. MacKenzie Scott is the world's eighteenth most extravagant individual, having seen her wealth climb from $23.6 billion this year to $60.7 billion. Also read: Elon Musk becomes world's third richest man; Bezos' ex-wife now world's richest woman Quite a bit of her fortune comes from Jeff Bezos who is the world's most extravagant man and Amazon's CEO. "This pandemic has been a destroying ball in the lives of Americans previously battling," she wrote in a blog entry on Tuesday, adding that she had picked in excess of 380 foundations to give to having thought about right around 6,500 associations. "Financial misfortunes and wellbeing results the same have been more terrible for ladies, for non-white individuals and for individuals living in destitution. In the interim, it has considerably expanded the abundance of tycoons." Scott, who formerly went by the name MacKenzie Bezos, last year signed a "giving pledge" to donate the bulk of her wealth to charity. In a round of donations early this year, Scott gave nearly $1.7 billion to groups devoted to race, gender and economic equality, as well as other social causes. "This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling," Scott said in a post detailing her second round of giving this year. "Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty." Meanwhile, she noted, the wealth of billionaires has substantially increased. Such billionaires include her ex-husband, although Scott did not mention his name. Bezos's wealth has reportedly grown almost 80 percent during the pandemic. Scott said she enlisted a team of advisors that helped identify 384 organizations across the US that support people suffering from the economic toll of the pandemic. Special attention was given to organisations working to combat hunger, poverty and racial inequity in communities, according to Scott. Targets for support included food banks, employment training services, legal defense funds, debt relief programs and civil rights advocacy groups. The groups that received donations "have dedicated their lives to helping others, working and volunteering and serving real people face-to-face at bedsides and tables, in prisons and courtrooms and classrooms, on streets and hospital wards and hotlines and frontlines of all types and sizes, day after day after day," Scott said. Scott was left a multi-billionaire after her divorce last year from Bezos. She ranked 20th on a Forbes real-time list of the world's richest people index on Tuesday, with a net worth of $56 billion -- after taking her latest donations into account. Bezos was at the top of that list with a net worth of $185 billion.

Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott donates $4.2 billion in four months

The European Union charged&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;with damaging retail competition, alleging on Tuesday that the US&nbsp;company uses its size, power, and data to gain an unfair advantage over smaller merchants that sell on its online platform.

The move by competition chief Margrethe Vestager, the latest European salvo against US&nbsp;tech giants, comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified&nbsp;Amazon's role in the global economy, with online sales soaring in lockdowns.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/boycottamazon-trending-in-india-for-selling-om-printed-doormats-342118" hreflang="en">#BoycottAmazon trending in India for selling 'Om' printed doormats</a>

The European Commission has been investigating&nbsp;Amazon's position as both a marketplace for merchants and a rival seller, while the firm also faces scrutiny in the United States over its alleged mistreatment of sellers, as well as its dual role.

The EU regulator looked into how&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;collects data on competitors that sell on its platform, offering everything from electronics and toys to food and kitchenware. It says that&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;uses that sensitive information, which shows what is proving popular or not, to better target its own products.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/german-anti-trust-watchdog-launches-new-amazon-investigation-report-321008">German anti-trust watchdog launches new Amazon investigation: Report</a>

"The use of these data allows&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;to focus on the sale of the best-selling products and it marginalises third-party sellers and caps their ability to grow," European Competition Commissioner Vestager told a news conference.

Vestager, who has a reputation of being one of the world's toughest antitrust enforcers, said that regulators had to ensure that dual-role platforms with market power, such as&nbsp;Amazon, did not distort competition.

Amazon&nbsp;disagreed with the EU assertions.

"Amazon&nbsp;represents less than 1% of the global retail market, and there are larger retailers in every country in which we operate," the company said.

A US&nbsp;Congressional antitrust report earlier this year into the alleged abuse of market power by&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;also raised the concerns highlighted by the EU and is likely to influence the case US&nbsp;regulators bring against the company.

US&nbsp;Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat and the top antitrust lawmaker in the House, applauded the EU and urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to take similar action.

"As we found as part of a 16-month bipartisan investigation,&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;has monopoly power over sellers on its platform," Cicilline said.

The EU charges are the latest example of how watchdogs around the world, led by Europe, are grappling with the challenges of regulating Big Tech, companies that have achieved dominance in their fields and vast troves of user data.

On Vestager's watch, the EU has imposed large fines on the Alphabet's Google and other companies. See FACTBOX:

A final EU decision could come next year.&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;faces being fined up to 10% of its global turnover if found guilty of breaching antitrust rules. However, it can avoid a hefty penalty and a finding of wrongdoing by offering concessions to settle.

NEW INVESTIGATION

The EU competition enforcer has been investigating&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;since July last year after rival traders voiced their grievances. The regulator said the charges related to&nbsp;Amazon's activities in France and Germany, its two biggest markets in Europe and where it is the dominant player.

The case focuses on its use of merchant data on its platform. Vestager said her officials had trawled 80 million transactions and reviewed 100 million products on&nbsp;Amazon's platform to put the case together.

The European Commission also opened a new investigation into&nbsp;Amazon&nbsp;on Tuesday, over the possible preferential treatment of its own retail offers and those of marketplace sellers that use&nbsp;Amazon's logistics and delivery services.

That probe will look into the possible preferential treatment of&nbsp;Amazon's own retail offers and those of marketplace sellers that use&nbsp;Amazon's logistics and delivery services.

Regulators will investigate the criteria the company uses to select winners of its "buy box", which allows customers to add items from a specific retailer directly into their shopping carts.

"Its rules should not artificially favour&nbsp;Amazon's own retail offers or advantage the offers of retailers using&nbsp;Amazon's logistics and delivery services," Vestager said, citing the importance of e-commerce, an area which has gained importance with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Union charged Amazon with damaging retail competition, alleging on Tuesday that the US company uses its size, power, and data to gain an unfair advantage over smaller merchants that sell on its online platform.

The European Union charged Amazon with damaging retail competition, alleging on Tuesday that the US company uses its size, power, and data to gain an unfair advantage over smaller merchants that sell on its online platform. The move by competition chief Margrethe Vestager, the latest European salvo against US tech giants, comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified Amazon's role in the global economy, with online sales soaring in lockdowns. Also read: #BoycottAmazon trending in India for selling 'Om' printed doormats The European Commission has been investigating Amazon's position as both a marketplace for merchants and a rival seller, while the firm also faces scrutiny in the United States over its alleged mistreatment of sellers, as well as its dual role. The EU regulator looked into how Amazon collects data on competitors that sell on its platform, offering everything from electronics and toys to food and kitchenware. It says that Amazon uses that sensitive information, which shows what is proving popular or not, to better target its own products. Also read: German anti-trust watchdog launches new Amazon investigation: Report "The use of these data allows Amazon to focus on the sale of the best-selling products and it marginalises third-party sellers and caps their ability to grow," European Competition Commissioner Vestager told a news conference. Vestager, who has a reputation of being one of the world's toughest antitrust enforcers, said that regulators had to ensure that dual-role platforms with market power, such as Amazon, did not distort competition. Amazon disagreed with the EU assertions. "Amazon represents less than 1% of the global retail market, and there are larger retailers in every country in which we operate," the company said. A US Congressional antitrust report earlier this year into the alleged abuse of market power by Amazon also raised the concerns highlighted by the EU and is likely to influence the case US regulators bring against the company. US Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat and the top antitrust lawmaker in the House, applauded the EU and urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to take similar action. "As we found as part of a 16-month bipartisan investigation, Amazon has monopoly power over sellers on its platform," Cicilline said. The EU charges are the latest example of how watchdogs around the world, led by Europe, are grappling with the challenges of regulating Big Tech, companies that have achieved dominance in their fields and vast troves of user data. On Vestager's watch, the EU has imposed large fines on the Alphabet's Google and other companies. See FACTBOX: A final EU decision could come next year. Amazon faces being fined up to 10% of its global turnover if found guilty of breaching antitrust rules. However, it can avoid a hefty penalty and a finding of wrongdoing by offering concessions to settle. NEW INVESTIGATION The EU competition enforcer has been investigating Amazon since July last year after rival traders voiced their grievances. The regulator said the charges related to Amazon's activities in France and Germany, its two biggest markets in Europe and where it is the dominant player. The case focuses on its use of merchant data on its platform. Vestager said her officials had trawled 80 million transactions and reviewed 100 million products on Amazon's platform to put the case together. The European Commission also opened a new investigation into Amazon on Tuesday, over the possible preferential treatment of its own retail offers and those of marketplace sellers that use Amazon's logistics and delivery services. That probe will look into the possible preferential treatment of Amazon's own retail offers and those of marketplace sellers that use Amazon's logistics and delivery services. Regulators will investigate the criteria the company uses to select winners of its "buy box", which allows customers to add items from a specific retailer directly into their shopping carts. "Its rules should not artificially favour Amazon's own retail offers or advantage the offers of retailers using Amazon's logistics and delivery services," Vestager said, citing the importance of e-commerce, an area which has gained importance with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Europe charges Amazon with using dominance and data to squeeze rivals

With only four days to go for the US election 2020,&nbsp;President Donald Trump's differences with rival presidential candidate Joe Biden extend far beyond planet Earth.

However, NASA's moonshot, aerospace company Boeing,&nbsp;Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and&nbsp;SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk also have a&nbsp;lot riding on the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">US&nbsp;election</a> on November 3.

While Republican candidate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Trump</a>&nbsp;plans to win the race in space call for a 2024 moon mission and ending direct US&nbsp;financial support for the International Space Station in 2025, turning&nbsp;over control of the decades-old orbital laboratory to private space companies.

Biden, on the other hand, would likely call for a delayed&nbsp;moonshot&nbsp;and propose a funding extension for the International Space Station if he wins the White House, according to people familiar with the fledging Biden space agenda.

Earlier,&nbsp;NASA had&nbsp;selected&nbsp;Bezos's Blue Origin and Musk's SpaceX&nbsp;to develop human landers for Artemis moon missions.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bezoss-blue-origin-and-musks-spacex-to-collaborate-in-building-nasas-lunar-lander-296099">Bezos's Blue Origin and Musk's SpaceX to collaborate in building NASA's lunar lander</a>

Pushing back the moon mission could cast more doubt on the long-term fate of Boeing Co's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, just as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin scramble to bring rival rockets to market as soon as next year.

Extending support for the space station for a decade would also be a major boost for Boeing, whose $225 million annual ISS operations contract is set to expire in 2024 and is at the depths of a financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 737 MAX grounding after fatal crashes.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-shepard-capsule-bezos-blue-origin-conducts-successful-test-flight-for-space-tourism-335120">New Shepard capsule: Bezos' Blue Origin conducts successful test flight for space tourism</a>

Boeing and SpaceX are already supplying spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the ISS under a program begun under the Obama administration and supported by both Trump and Biden.

Though slowing the&nbsp;moonshot&nbsp;would push back contracts for moon landers and related equipment the companies aim to win, the emerging Biden space agenda appears broadly set to promote competition between traditional defense contractors like Boeing and "new space" rivals like SpaceX who promise lower-cost and reusable rocket systems and space vehicles.

Craving consistency

For the commercial space industry, "consistency is key," said Mike French, a vice president at the Aerospace Industries Association trade group who earlier served as NASA chief of staff under Obama.

"If you shake the etch-a-sketch now, you will (be) risking a series of potentially historic accomplishments and the strong and sustained bipartisan support NASA has seen across its portfolio," French told Reuters.

Roughly 20 former senior NASA officials and scientists have assembled as a volunteer subgroup under the Biden campaign's science committee to informally help draw up ideas for a space platform.

Many held jobs in the Obama administration and are jockeying for influential roles on the transition team or in a Biden administration.

Members of the subgroup also want to boost NASA funding for Earth science and support partnerships with other nations. They stressed that Biden's space agenda, and the staff assignments to lead it, were in a formative stage as his campaign prioritizes more pressing issues, like the coronavirus pandemic and joblessness.

A Biden campaign spokesman pointed to earlier remarks from Biden. In August, after SpaceX launched and returned the first astronauts from US&nbsp;soil on a trip to the ISS in nearly a decade, Biden said he looked forward to "leading a bold space program that will continue to send astronaut heroes to expand our exploration and scientific frontiers."

Representatives for Blue Origin and Boeing declined to comment. SpaceX and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Fight over Boeing rocket

But the Biden space group is divided on what to do about Boeing's SLS, several sources said.

The super heavy-lift rocket has been beset by development delays and cost overruns, but supports tens of thousands of jobs in Alabama and California and is seen by backers as central to NASA's exploration plans and the only path to Trump's 2024 timeline for the Artemis mission.

Critics say the rocket's aging technology and launch costs of $1 billion or more permission should prompt a formal White House or Congressional review of the program, particularly if SpaceX and Blue Origin are able to offer new rockets at a lower cost.

It costs as little as $90 million to fly Musk's massive but still less-powerful Falcon Heavy, and some $350 million per launch for United Launch Alliance's legacy Delta IV Heavy.

Whether a Biden space policy would be more friendly to SLS or to newer commercial alternatives from "new space" players will be heavily influenced by his choice for NASA administrator, a role the campaign wants to be filled by a woman, two people said.

NASA views SLS as its only human-rated ride to the moon in the near term, said Doug Loverro, the former NASA head of human spaceflight.

"But is that the long-term direction to continue to pursue?" Loverro asked.

With only four days to go for the US election 2020, President Donald Trump's differences with rival presidential candidate Joe Biden extend far beyond planet Earth.

With only four days to go for the US election 2020, President Donald Trump's differences with rival presidential candidate Joe Biden extend far beyond planet Earth. However, NASA's moonshot, aerospace company Boeing, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk also have a lot riding on the US election on November 3. While Republican candidate Trump plans to win the race in space call for a 2024 moon mission and ending direct US financial support for the International Space Station in 2025, turning over control of the decades-old orbital laboratory to private space companies. Biden, on the other hand, would likely call for a delayed moonshot and propose a funding extension for the International Space Station if he wins the White House, according to people familiar with the fledging Biden space agenda. Earlier, NASA had selected Bezos's Blue Origin and Musk's SpaceX to develop human landers for Artemis moon missions. Also read: Bezos's Blue Origin and Musk's SpaceX to collaborate in building NASA's lunar lander Pushing back the moon mission could cast more doubt on the long-term fate of Boeing Co's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, just as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin scramble to bring rival rockets to market as soon as next year. Extending support for the space station for a decade would also be a major boost for Boeing, whose $225 million annual ISS operations contract is set to expire in 2024 and is at the depths of a financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 737 MAX grounding after fatal crashes. Also read: New Shepard capsule: Bezos' Blue Origin conducts successful test flight for space tourism Boeing and SpaceX are already supplying spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the ISS under a program begun under the Obama administration and supported by both Trump and Biden. Though slowing the moonshot would push back contracts for moon landers and related equipment the companies aim to win, the emerging Biden space agenda appears broadly set to promote competition between traditional defense contractors like Boeing and "new space" rivals like SpaceX who promise lower-cost and reusable rocket systems and space vehicles. Craving consistency For the commercial space industry, "consistency is key," said Mike French, a vice president at the Aerospace Industries Association trade group who earlier served as NASA chief of staff under Obama. "If you shake the etch-a-sketch now, you will (be) risking a series of potentially historic accomplishments and the strong and sustained bipartisan support NASA has seen across its portfolio," French told Reuters. Roughly 20 former senior NASA officials and scientists have assembled as a volunteer subgroup under the Biden campaign's science committee to informally help draw up ideas for a space platform. Many held jobs in the Obama administration and are jockeying for influential roles on the transition team or in a Biden administration. Members of the subgroup also want to boost NASA funding for Earth science and support partnerships with other nations. They stressed that Biden's space agenda, and the staff assignments to lead it, were in a formative stage as his campaign prioritizes more pressing issues, like the coronavirus pandemic and joblessness. A Biden campaign spokesman pointed to earlier remarks from Biden. In August, after SpaceX launched and returned the first astronauts from US soil on a trip to the ISS in nearly a decade, Biden said he looked forward to "leading a bold space program that will continue to send astronaut heroes to expand our exploration and scientific frontiers." Representatives for Blue Origin and Boeing declined to comment. SpaceX and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Fight over Boeing rocket But the Biden space group is divided on what to do about Boeing's SLS, several sources said. The super heavy-lift rocket has been beset by development delays and cost overruns, but supports tens of thousands of jobs in Alabama and California and is seen by backers as central to NASA's exploration plans and the only path to Trump's 2024 timeline for the Artemis mission. Critics say the rocket's aging technology and launch costs of $1 billion or more permission should prompt a formal White House or Congressional review of the program, particularly if SpaceX and Blue Origin are able to offer new rockets at a lower cost. It costs as little as $90 million to fly Musk's massive but still less-powerful Falcon Heavy, and some $350 million per launch for United Launch Alliance's legacy Delta IV Heavy. Whether a Biden space policy would be more friendly to SLS or to newer commercial alternatives from "new space" players will be heavily influenced by his choice for NASA administrator, a role the campaign wants to be filled by a woman, two people said. NASA views SLS as its only human-rated ride to the moon in the near term, said Doug Loverro, the former NASA head of human spaceflight. "But is that the long-term direction to continue to pursue?" Loverro asked.

US election 2020: Why are the polls crucial for NASA's moonshot, Boeing, Bezos and Musk

West Texas is not quite like the moon. But it can serve as a handy stand-in.

Last week, Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, launched,&nbsp;and landed, its small New Shepard rocket and capsule for the 13th time as part of tests to verify safety before any passengers climb aboard.

One day, this will be New Shepard’s main business: flying well-to-do people above the 62-mile altitude generally considered the beginning of outer space where they will experience a few minutes of weightlessness as the capsule arcs.

Blue Origin is not a new company, Bezos founded it in 2000,&nbsp;but for most of its existence, it operated in secret without generating much revenue. Three years ago, Bezos said he was selling $1 billion a year in Amazon stock to finance Blue Origin’s research and development. And he has declared broad ambitions for its business, such as competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and others in the orbital launch business, building a moon lander for NASA astronauts and eventually making it possible for millions of people to live and work in space.

But the cargo of last Tuesday’s launch from a test site near Van Horn, Texas, shows that the company is finding a more modest business in the short term: turning the reusable New Shepard rocket and capsule into an effective, and profitable, platform for testing new technologies and performing scientific experiments.

“It was fantastic,” said Erika Wagner, Blue Origin’s payload sales director, who was in West Texas. “We were watching across the valley and watching the rocket climb up.”

Tucked under the collar at the top of the booster on the launch were prototypes of sensors that could help NASA astronauts safely reach the lunar surface in a few years. It is part of NASA’s Tipping Point program, which seeks to push innovative technologies.

“Although not identical to a lunar lander, it is representative in that full-flight profile of approaching at a high rate of speed, and then throttling up an engine and doing a propulsive landing,” said Stefan Bieniawski, who leads the Blue Origin side of the partnership with NASA. “In fact, I think we’re actually at slightly higher speeds than you would be approaching the moon. So it gives a little bit of a stress test for some of these sensors.”

Unlike NASA’s Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972, which visited different parts of the moon, the space agency’s current Artemis program aims to make repeated visits near the lunar South Pole, where eternally shadowed craters contain large amounts of water ice. That will require the ability to land close to the same spot again and again.

To that end, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has spent years developing a system that bounces light off the surface to measure altitude and velocity of a descending spacecraft. This technology, lidar — short for light detection and ranging — is similar to radar, but it should be able to provide more precise readings.

A second NASA system aboard the flight was a test of what is known as terrain relative navigation. Because there are no Global Positioning System satellites orbiting the moon, a spacecraft has to rely on its own smarts to determine its exact location. With this navigation system, a computer compares images taken by a camera with those stored onboard to determine its location.

The navigation system was turned on close to where the New Shepard booster reached its highest point.

“The terrain navigation does not sit there and say, ‘Hey, I see a crater,’ ” Bieniawski said. “It’s really looking for contrasts in the scene. And in that way, it really doesn’t care whether it’s on the moon or whether it’s here on Earth.”

NASA paid Blue Origin $1.5 million to mount its systems on two flights of New Shepard. The second flight will add another lidar instrument that will create a three-dimensional map of the landscape below in order to identify and avoid obstacles.

“Our goal is to ready a plug-and-play precision landing system that NASA and industry can use based on a mission’s specific need,” Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, said in a statement. “This integrated New Shepard test will put us on that path, giving us unmatched intel about how the sensors, algorithms and computer work together.”

While there were no people in the New Shepard capsule for the flight, it was not empty. It carried NASA-financed science experiments as well as experimental cargo from private companies. New Shepard flights have already carried more than 100 payloads to the edge of space.

“We make money on every flight,” said Bob Smith, the chief executive of Blue Origin.

Wagner of Blue Origin said the scientists came to West Texas and were excited to watch the launch and start digging into the results the same day. “They’re just bouncing up and down on their toes,” she said.

The experiments on last week’s flight included the second iteration of a project from Daniel Durda, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He called it BORE II, where BORE is a simple acronym for Box of Rocks Experiment.

“It’s literally a box of rocks,” Durda said.

He is trying to develop a system that can scoop up samples of dirt from an asteroid. BORE II contains crushed-up material that is similar in composition to certain carbon-rich asteroids.

During the weightless portion of the flight, a tetrahedron-shaped collection device, which Durda called a starfish, will unfold. Magnets mounted on the outer triangles — the arms of the starfish — should attract and hold onto some of the crushed rocks. The device will then fold up again, trapping the material.

“It’s kind of a biomimicry thing if you think about it,” Durda said. “The way starfish feed is they kind of extrude their stomach out and they pull them back in and collect what they’re doing. That’s kind of what we’re doing here.”

By testing the design on a suborbital flight, Durda can find out how much material can be collected and whether the apparatus operates without jamming.

“It’s the very first step in understanding how you might incorporate a sampler mechanism like this into a spacecraft rendezvous mission where you dump maybe dozens, many dozens of these little things across the surface of an asteroid,” he said.

With the new suborbital vehicles that fly repeatedly, the price of getting to space is much lower for NASA as well as for academic and private scientists.

The most popular option, Smith said, is what Blue Origin calls a single storage locker. “That starts around $100,000 for about 25 pounds and something the size of, let’s say, a microwave,” he said. “But we also have many payloads that we use with students that go as low as $8,000.”

The suborbital research is also a sign that Blue Origin is making a turn to becoming a profitable business as it prepares to sell tickets to space tourists. It has yet to announce a date or price for those flights.

“It’s been a lot of growth in facilities personnel actually trying to understand how do we run this much more like a business as opposed to a research organization,” Smith said. “We’ve also gone from virtually zero revenue to now making hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue annually.”

The company has competition for the market of sending experiments to space. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which also plans to send space tourists on suborbital jaunts, has been flying experiments during its test flights. One from University of Florida scientists, for example, tested imaging technologies that capture the reaction of plants — what genes are turned on and off — to the stresses of spaceflight. (The same scientists had another iteration of the experiment aboard last week’s Blue Origin flight.)

Virgin Galactic’s space plane, known as SpaceShipTwo, is flown by two pilots, so it has carried people to space, but it will not fly paying passengers until next year.

“The whole view of using these vehicles for research purposes has moved into the mainstream, and NASA has now been funding a lot of that kind of work,” said S. Alan Stern, associate vice president of the space science and engineering division at Southwest Research Institute who has been selected by NASA to accompany his research on a future Virgin Galactic flight.

By operating the experiment himself, Stern said he would gain direct experience with how these materials behave on an asteroid.

“I think it’s very important for us to understand the conditions on their surfaces at a ‘gut instinct’ level the same way a field geologist walking a Western desert landscape here on Earth does,” Durda said.

“We’ve attained that level of familiarity in just about every other aspect of field and laboratory science,” he said. “It’s long past time for space scientists to be able to work with that same enabling benefit.”

West Texas is not quite like the moon. But it can serve as a handy stand-in. Last week, Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, launched, and landed, its small New Shepard rocket and capsule for the 13th time as part of tests to verify safety before any passengers climb aboard.

West Texas is not quite like the moon. But it can serve as a handy stand-in. Last week, Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, launched, and landed, its small New Shepard rocket and capsule for the 13th time as part of tests to verify safety before any passengers climb aboard. One day, this will be New Shepard’s main business: flying well-to-do people above the 62-mile altitude generally considered the beginning of outer space where they will experience a few minutes of weightlessness as the capsule arcs. Blue Origin is not a new company, Bezos founded it in 2000, but for most of its existence, it operated in secret without generating much revenue. Three years ago, Bezos said he was selling $1 billion a year in Amazon stock to finance Blue Origin’s research and development. And he has declared broad ambitions for its business, such as competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and others in the orbital launch business, building a moon lander for NASA astronauts and eventually making it possible for millions of people to live and work in space. But the cargo of last Tuesday’s launch from a test site near Van Horn, Texas, shows that the company is finding a more modest business in the short term: turning the reusable New Shepard rocket and capsule into an effective, and profitable, platform for testing new technologies and performing scientific experiments. “It was fantastic,” said Erika Wagner, Blue Origin’s payload sales director, who was in West Texas. “We were watching across the valley and watching the rocket climb up.” Tucked under the collar at the top of the booster on the launch were prototypes of sensors that could help NASA astronauts safely reach the lunar surface in a few years. It is part of NASA’s Tipping Point program, which seeks to push innovative technologies. “Although not identical to a lunar lander, it is representative in that full-flight profile of approaching at a high rate of speed, and then throttling up an engine and doing a propulsive landing,” said Stefan Bieniawski, who leads the Blue Origin side of the partnership with NASA. “In fact, I think we’re actually at slightly higher speeds than you would be approaching the moon. So it gives a little bit of a stress test for some of these sensors.” Unlike NASA’s Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972, which visited different parts of the moon, the space agency’s current Artemis program aims to make repeated visits near the lunar South Pole, where eternally shadowed craters contain large amounts of water ice. That will require the ability to land close to the same spot again and again. To that end, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has spent years developing a system that bounces light off the surface to measure altitude and velocity of a descending spacecraft. This technology, lidar — short for light detection and ranging — is similar to radar, but it should be able to provide more precise readings. A second NASA system aboard the flight was a test of what is known as terrain relative navigation. Because there are no Global Positioning System satellites orbiting the moon, a spacecraft has to rely on its own smarts to determine its exact location. With this navigation system, a computer compares images taken by a camera with those stored onboard to determine its location. The navigation system was turned on close to where the New Shepard booster reached its highest point. “The terrain navigation does not sit there and say, ‘Hey, I see a crater,’ ” Bieniawski said. “It’s really looking for contrasts in the scene. And in that way, it really doesn’t care whether it’s on the moon or whether it’s here on Earth.” NASA paid Blue Origin $1.5 million to mount its systems on two flights of New Shepard. The second flight will add another lidar instrument that will create a three-dimensional map of the landscape below in order to identify and avoid obstacles. “Our goal is to ready a plug-and-play precision landing system that NASA and industry can use based on a mission’s specific need,” Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, said in a statement. “This integrated New Shepard test will put us on that path, giving us unmatched intel about how the sensors, algorithms and computer work together.” While there were no people in the New Shepard capsule for the flight, it was not empty. It carried NASA-financed science experiments as well as experimental cargo from private companies. New Shepard flights have already carried more than 100 payloads to the edge of space. “We make money on every flight,” said Bob Smith, the chief executive of Blue Origin. Wagner of Blue Origin said the scientists came to West Texas and were excited to watch the launch and start digging into the results the same day. “They’re just bouncing up and down on their toes,” she said. The experiments on last week’s flight included the second iteration of a project from Daniel Durda, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He called it BORE II, where BORE is a simple acronym for Box of Rocks Experiment. “It’s literally a box of rocks,” Durda said. He is trying to develop a system that can scoop up samples of dirt from an asteroid. BORE II contains crushed-up material that is similar in composition to certain carbon-rich asteroids. During the weightless portion of the flight, a tetrahedron-shaped collection device, which Durda called a starfish, will unfold. Magnets mounted on the outer triangles — the arms of the starfish — should attract and hold onto some of the crushed rocks. The device will then fold up again, trapping the material. “It’s kind of a biomimicry thing if you think about it,” Durda said. “The way starfish feed is they kind of extrude their stomach out and they pull them back in and collect what they’re doing. That’s kind of what we’re doing here.” By testing the design on a suborbital flight, Durda can find out how much material can be collected and whether the apparatus operates without jamming. “It’s the very first step in understanding how you might incorporate a sampler mechanism like this into a spacecraft rendezvous mission where you dump maybe dozens, many dozens of these little things across the surface of an asteroid,” he said. With the new suborbital vehicles that fly repeatedly, the price of getting to space is much lower for NASA as well as for academic and private scientists. The most popular option, Smith said, is what Blue Origin calls a single storage locker. “That starts around $100,000 for about 25 pounds and something the size of, let’s say, a microwave,” he said. “But we also have many payloads that we use with students that go as low as $8,000.” The suborbital research is also a sign that Blue Origin is making a turn to becoming a profitable business as it prepares to sell tickets to space tourists. It has yet to announce a date or price for those flights. “It’s been a lot of growth in facilities personnel actually trying to understand how do we run this much more like a business as opposed to a research organization,” Smith said. “We’ve also gone from virtually zero revenue to now making hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue annually.” The company has competition for the market of sending experiments to space. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which also plans to send space tourists on suborbital jaunts, has been flying experiments during its test flights. One from University of Florida scientists, for example, tested imaging technologies that capture the reaction of plants — what genes are turned on and off — to the stresses of spaceflight. (The same scientists had another iteration of the experiment aboard last week’s Blue Origin flight.) Virgin Galactic’s space plane, known as SpaceShipTwo, is flown by two pilots, so it has carried people to space, but it will not fly paying passengers until next year. “The whole view of using these vehicles for research purposes has moved into the mainstream, and NASA has now been funding a lot of that kind of work,” said S. Alan Stern, associate vice president of the space science and engineering division at Southwest Research Institute who has been selected by NASA to accompany his research on a future Virgin Galactic flight. By operating the experiment himself, Stern said he would gain direct experience with how these materials behave on an asteroid. “I think it’s very important for us to understand the conditions on their surfaces at a ‘gut instinct’ level the same way a field geologist walking a Western desert landscape here on Earth does,” Durda said. “We’ve attained that level of familiarity in just about every other aspect of field and laboratory science,” he said. “It’s long past time for space scientists to be able to work with that same enabling benefit.”

Jeff Bezos’ company is carrying scientific cargo to space. It’s not Amazon

Back in 2015, students in Maggie Samudio’s second-grade class at Cumberland Elementary School in West Lafayette, Indiana, were contemplating an offbeat science question: If a firefly went to space, would it still be able to light up as it floated in zero gravity?

Samudio said she would ask a friend of hers, Steven Collicott, an aerospace professor at nearby Purdue University, for the answer.

“He teaches a class on zero gravity, and he would be the perfect person to answer the question,” Samudio recalled in an email.

A day later, Collicott replied, and Samudio was surprised by his answer: Instead of guessing, why not actually build the experiment and send it to space?

Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, chief executive of Amazon, was planning to offer the ability for schools to fly small experiments on its New Shepard suborbital spacecraft for as little as $8,000.

“That is a game-changer,” said Erika Wagner, the payload sales director at Blue Origin. “Kids as young as elementary school are flying things to space.”

Collicott, who had sent several fluid flow experiments on New Shepard launches, pointed Samudio and her second-graders to Blue Origin.

“For the small payload 4 inches square by 8 inches tall, we’re able to fly that for half the cost of high school football uniforms,” Collicott said. “So really any school district now that affords football can afford spaceflight.”

Cumberland Elementary has not been the only school to see the value of paying for an experiment aboard the New Shepard rocket. A Montessori middle school in Colorado sent up a sensor package designed and programmed by the students. An Alabama high school launched an experiment to test temperature fluctuations in microgravity. And this past December, an elementary school in Ohio sent up baby jellyfish.

On board for the latest flight, which launched last Tuesday, were 1.2 million tomato seeds, which will be distributed to students in 15,000 classes, kindergarten through high school, across the United States and Canada.

Following Collicott’s suggestion, Samudio’s children at Cumberland got to work, collaborating with Purdue students in Collicott’s classes.

“For the next two years, I had aeronautical engineers in my second-grade classroom teaching mini-lessons on basic principles of flight and propulsion as well as the basic principles of ‘firefly’ chemistry,” Samudio said.

On Dec. 12, 2017, the firefly experiment was on board New Shepard. It did not contain any actual fireflies. “It appears when scared, fireflies don’t light up,” Collicott said. “And we were concerned that the boost would scare them. And then there are also issues of I don’t know how to keep fireflies alive and keep them happy.”

Instead, the apparatus replicated the chemistry of how fireflies generate light, with syringes mixing the glow-creating substances together as the capsule reached the top of the trajectory more than 60 miles above West Texas. A tiny video camera recorded what happened in the payload box.

Collicott attended the launching, and two days later, was back in Samudio’s classroom presenting the results.

Fireflies can indeed glow in space.

“That kind of turnaround is just amazing, that spaceflight to these students is not distant,” Collicott said. “It happens fast. It’s kind of cool.”

The space experiment wrapped into a larger project undertaken by Samudio’s classes. One of her students, Kayla Xu, had noted with distress that most states had a state insect, and Indiana did not; she wanted to fix that.

That effort succeeded, too. On March 23, 2018, Gov. Eric Holcomb went to Cumberland Elementary School to sign a bill that declared the Say’s firefly, a species native to the area, the state insect of Indiana.

“Several parents told me that the simple question of asking their child what they had done in school that day exploded into amazing family conversations, extra reading and research, and the contemplation of future personal pursuits and goals,” Samudio said.

Back in 2015, students in Maggie Samudio’s second-grade class at Cumberland Elementary School in West Lafayette, Indiana, were contemplating an offbeat science question: If a firefly went to space, would it still be able to light up as it floated in zero gravity?

Back in 2015, students in Maggie Samudio’s second-grade class at Cumberland Elementary School in West Lafayette, Indiana, were contemplating an offbeat science question: If a firefly went to space, would it still be able to light up as it floated in zero gravity? Samudio said she would ask a friend of hers, Steven Collicott, an aerospace professor at nearby Purdue University, for the answer. “He teaches a class on zero gravity, and he would be the perfect person to answer the question,” Samudio recalled in an email. A day later, Collicott replied, and Samudio was surprised by his answer: Instead of guessing, why not actually build the experiment and send it to space? Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, chief executive of Amazon, was planning to offer the ability for schools to fly small experiments on its New Shepard suborbital spacecraft for as little as $8,000. “That is a game-changer,” said Erika Wagner, the payload sales director at Blue Origin. “Kids as young as elementary school are flying things to space.” Collicott, who had sent several fluid flow experiments on New Shepard launches, pointed Samudio and her second-graders to Blue Origin. “For the small payload 4 inches square by 8 inches tall, we’re able to fly that for half the cost of high school football uniforms,” Collicott said. “So really any school district now that affords football can afford spaceflight.” Cumberland Elementary has not been the only school to see the value of paying for an experiment aboard the New Shepard rocket. A Montessori middle school in Colorado sent up a sensor package designed and programmed by the students. An Alabama high school launched an experiment to test temperature fluctuations in microgravity. And this past December, an elementary school in Ohio sent up baby jellyfish. On board for the latest flight, which launched last Tuesday, were 1.2 million tomato seeds, which will be distributed to students in 15,000 classes, kindergarten through high school, across the United States and Canada. Following Collicott’s suggestion, Samudio’s children at Cumberland got to work, collaborating with Purdue students in Collicott’s classes. “For the next two years, I had aeronautical engineers in my second-grade classroom teaching mini-lessons on basic principles of flight and propulsion as well as the basic principles of ‘firefly’ chemistry,” Samudio said. On Dec. 12, 2017, the firefly experiment was on board New Shepard. It did not contain any actual fireflies. “It appears when scared, fireflies don’t light up,” Collicott said. “And we were concerned that the boost would scare them. And then there are also issues of I don’t know how to keep fireflies alive and keep them happy.” Instead, the apparatus replicated the chemistry of how fireflies generate light, with syringes mixing the glow-creating substances together as the capsule reached the top of the trajectory more than 60 miles above West Texas. A tiny video camera recorded what happened in the payload box. Collicott attended the launching, and two days later, was back in Samudio’s classroom presenting the results. Fireflies can indeed glow in space. “That kind of turnaround is just amazing, that spaceflight to these students is not distant,” Collicott said. “It happens fast. It’s kind of cool.” The space experiment wrapped into a larger project undertaken by Samudio’s classes. One of her students, Kayla Xu, had noted with distress that most states had a state insect, and Indiana did not; she wanted to fix that. That effort succeeded, too. On March 23, 2018, Gov. Eric Holcomb went to Cumberland Elementary School to sign a bill that declared the Say’s firefly, a species native to the area, the state insect of Indiana. “Several parents told me that the simple question of asking their child what they had done in school that day exploded into amazing family conversations, extra reading and research, and the contemplation of future personal pursuits and goals,” Samudio said.

How a 2nd-grade class sent a science experiment to space

The wealth of the world's&nbsp;billionaires has reached a new high amid the coronavirus crisis according to a latest report by Swiss bank&nbsp;a report by UBS.

The report found that&nbsp;billionaires did ''extremely well'' as a rally in stock prices and gains in technology and healthcare helped the wealth of the world's richest break the $10 trillion mark.

It covered over 2,000&nbsp;billionaires representing some 98 per cent&nbsp;of the cohort's total wealth. The report states&nbsp;billionaire&nbsp;wealth grew by more than a quarter during the early months of the pandemic to reach $10.2 trillion in July, breaking the previous record of $8.9 trillion at the end of 2019.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amid-coronavirus-pandemic-billionaires-get-richer-as-americans-lose-jobs-303714">Amid coronavirus pandemic, billionaires get richer as Americans lose jobs</a>

According to the&nbsp;UBS and PwC database,&nbsp;25 years ago&nbsp;billionaire&nbsp;wealth stood at just over $1 trillion, but there has been&nbsp;five- to ten-fold rise over the period of time.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-plus-why-do-the-british-love-fugitive-billionaires-327089/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Between April 7 and July 31 this year,&nbsp;billionaires across every industry covered by the study saw their wealth rise by double digits, with&nbsp;billionaires in the technology, healthcare and industrial sectors leading the pack with 36 per cent to 44&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;gains.

The pandemic accelerated a trend of technology and healthcare entrepreneurs, and other business innovators, pulling ahead of their ultra-rich peers.

From 2018 through July 2020, tech&nbsp;billionaires saw their wealth rise 42.5&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;to $1.8 trillion, the report found, while&nbsp;billionaires deriving their fortune from healthcare similarly saw their wealth rise 50.3&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;during the period to $658.6 billion.

Just over 200 of those&nbsp;billionaires publicly committed some $7.2 billion to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the study found, noting that&nbsp;billionaire&nbsp;donations to combat the medical crisis as well as the societal and economic turmoil it caused were likely actually higher.

The wealth of the world's billionaires has reached a new high amid the coronavirus crisis according to a latest report by Swiss bank a report by UBS. The report found that billionaires did ''extremely well'' as a rally in stock prices and gains in technology and healthcare helped the wealth of the world's richest break the $10 trillion mark.

The wealth of the world's billionaires has reached a new high amid the coronavirus crisis according to a latest report by Swiss bank a report by UBS. The report found that billionaires did ''extremely well'' as a rally in stock prices and gains in technology and healthcare helped the wealth of the world's richest break the $10 trillion mark. It covered over 2,000 billionaires representing some 98 per cent of the cohort's total wealth. The report states billionaire wealth grew by more than a quarter during the early months of the pandemic to reach $10.2 trillion in July, breaking the previous record of $8.9 trillion at the end of 2019. Also read: Amid coronavirus pandemic, billionaires get richer as Americans lose jobs According to the UBS and PwC database, 25 years ago billionaire wealth stood at just over $1 trillion, but there has been five- to ten-fold rise over the period of time. Between April 7 and July 31 this year, billionaires across every industry covered by the study saw their wealth rise by double digits, with billionaires in the technology, healthcare and industrial sectors leading the pack with 36 per cent to 44 per cent gains. The pandemic accelerated a trend of technology and healthcare entrepreneurs, and other business innovators, pulling ahead of their ultra-rich peers. From 2018 through July 2020, tech billionaires saw their wealth rise 42.5 per cent to $1.8 trillion, the report found, while billionaires deriving their fortune from healthcare similarly saw their wealth rise 50.3 per cent during the period to $658.6 billion. Just over 200 of those billionaires publicly committed some $7.2 billion to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the study found, noting that billionaire donations to combat the medical crisis as well as the societal and economic turmoil it caused were likely actually higher.

Wealth of billionaires rises to $10.2 trillion amid coronavirus crisis

Amazon's founder and CEO and world's richest man Jeff Bezos has become wealthier than he has ever been. He has become the first billionaire in modern history to cross the $200 billion net worth.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/alibaba-puts-india-investment-plan-on-hold-amid-china-tensions-sources-323353" hreflang="en">Alibaba puts India investment plan on hold amid China tensions - Sources</a>

On Wednesday, Forbes reported that Jeff Bezos’ net worth increased by $4.9 billion as Amazon stock price went up by nearly 3 per cent. Bezos&nbsp;owns 11.1 per cent stake in Amazon, while his wife holds a 3.8 per cent stake in the company.

According to Forbes, Bezos' net worth is at $204.6 billion and is nearly $90 billion more than Bill Gates, who's the world's second-richest person and currently worth $116.1 billion.&nbsp;

The latest surge&nbsp;has also pushed his ex-wife's stake to a record level. The chunk of stock now worth $63 billion making Scott the second-richest woman, behind L'Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. Mackenzie Scott owns a 3.8 per cent stake in the $1.68 trillion company.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest addition to the centibillionaire lists. He is the third-richest person with a net worth of $103.1 billion after adding $3.4 billion to his fortune in one day, on Facebook stock gains.

As per the estimation, Bezos' net worth is now more than the entire m-cap of some of the biggest giants in the US, including Exxon Mobil, Nike and Mcdonald's.

According to a recent report, Bezos could be on his way to become the world's first trillionaire by the year 2026.

Amazon's founder and CEO and world's richest man Jeff Bezos has become wealthier than he has ever been. He has become the first billionaire in modern history to cross the $200 billion net worth.

Amazon's founder and CEO and world's richest man Jeff Bezos has become wealthier than he has ever been. He has become the first billionaire in modern history to cross the $200 billion net worth. Also read: Alibaba puts India investment plan on hold amid China tensions - Sources On Wednesday, Forbes reported that Jeff Bezos’ net worth increased by $4.9 billion as Amazon stock price went up by nearly 3 per cent. Bezos owns 11.1 per cent stake in Amazon, while his wife holds a 3.8 per cent stake in the company. According to Forbes, Bezos' net worth is at $204.6 billion and is nearly $90 billion more than Bill Gates, who's the world's second-richest person and currently worth $116.1 billion. The latest surge has also pushed his ex-wife's stake to a record level. The chunk of stock now worth $63 billion making Scott the second-richest woman, behind L'Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. Mackenzie Scott owns a 3.8 per cent stake in the $1.68 trillion company. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest addition to the centibillionaire lists. He is the third-richest person with a net worth of $103.1 billion after adding $3.4 billion to his fortune in one day, on Facebook stock gains. As per the estimation, Bezos' net worth is now more than the entire m-cap of some of the biggest giants in the US, including Exxon Mobil, Nike and Mcdonald's. According to a recent report, Bezos could be on his way to become the world's first trillionaire by the year 2026.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos becomes first billionaire in modern history to cross the $200 billion net worth: Report

Jeff Wilke, a veteran Amazon executive, is set to retire from the company early next year. He has been with the company since 1999.

Wilke's surprise departure comes as demand for Amazon deliveries has surged during the pandemic.

Wilke has headed Amazon's worldwide consumer division since 2016 and was widely seen as a likely successor to Bezos.

He will be replaced in his role by Dave Clark, Amazon's current senior vice president for worldwide operations. He also joined Amazon in 1999.

Amazon is facing scrutiny from lawmakers over its competitive tactics. Bezos last month testified on Capitol Hill alongside the CEOs of Apple, Facebook and Google as part of a congressional antitrust probe.&nbsp;

Bezos had acknowledged then that Amazon might have improperly used third-party seller data to inform its own product decisions — a key concern over the company's approach to competition.

Jeff Wilke, a veteran Amazon executive, is set to retire from the company early next year. He has been with the company since 1999. Wilke's surprise departure comes as demand for Amazon deliveries has surged during the pandemic.

Jeff Wilke, a veteran Amazon executive, is set to retire from the company early next year. He has been with the company since 1999. Wilke's surprise departure comes as demand for Amazon deliveries has surged during the pandemic. Wilke has headed Amazon's worldwide consumer division since 2016 and was widely seen as a likely successor to Bezos. He will be replaced in his role by Dave Clark, Amazon's current senior vice president for worldwide operations. He also joined Amazon in 1999. Amazon is facing scrutiny from lawmakers over its competitive tactics. Bezos last month testified on Capitol Hill alongside the CEOs of Apple, Facebook and Google as part of a congressional antitrust probe. Bezos had acknowledged then that Amazon might have improperly used third-party seller data to inform its own product decisions — a key concern over the company's approach to competition.

Possible successor to Jeff Bezos quits Amazon

Major news publishers are seeking more favorable terms from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on commissions the iPhone maker collects from them on payments made through its app store, according to a letter posted by a trade body on Thursday.

Digital Content Next (DCN), which represents New York Times Co (NYT.N), the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other publishers, posted the letter, addressed to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, on its website.

Apple, which usually takes a cut that ranges between 15% and 30% from news publishers for first-time subscriptions made through apps on the store, has a reduced rate for Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/apple-becomes-first-us-firm-to-reach-2-trillion-market-cap-321948">Also watch: Apple becomes first U.S firm to reach $2 trillion market cap</a>

In a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Cook said the reduced rate was available to any developer who met certain conditions.

News publishers should qualify for the same terms offered to Amazon for its Prime Video app on Apple's app store, DCN Chief Executive Officer Jason Kint suggested in Thursday's letter to Cook.

“I ask that you clearly define the conditions that Amazon satisfied for its arrangement so that DCN’s member companies meeting those conditions can be offered the same agreement.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/apple-helped-us-build-a-top-secret-ipod-claims-former-engineer-321806">Also read:&nbsp;Apple helped US build a 'top secret' iPod, claims former engineer</a>

The letter cited communication between Apple veteran Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos where the two companies agreed on a 15% revenue-sharing deal for new customer sign-ups for Prime Video through app store. The email emerged during the Committee hearing on July 29.

The latest missive comes days after Apple removed Epic Games’ “Fortnite” from its app store for violating in-app payment guidelines, prompting Epic to file federal lawsuits challenging the rule.

Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Major news publishers are seeking more favorable terms from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on commissions the iPhone maker collects from them on payments made through its app store, according to a letter posted by a trade body on Thursday.

Major news publishers are seeking more favorable terms from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on commissions the iPhone maker collects from them on payments made through its app store, according to a letter posted by a trade body on Thursday. Digital Content Next (DCN), which represents New York Times Co (NYT.N), the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other publishers, posted the letter, addressed to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, on its website. Apple, which usually takes a cut that ranges between 15% and 30% from news publishers for first-time subscriptions made through apps on the store, has a reduced rate for Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O). Also watch: Apple becomes first U.S firm to reach $2 trillion market cap In a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Cook said the reduced rate was available to any developer who met certain conditions. News publishers should qualify for the same terms offered to Amazon for its Prime Video app on Apple's app store, DCN Chief Executive Officer Jason Kint suggested in Thursday's letter to Cook. “I ask that you clearly define the conditions that Amazon satisfied for its arrangement so that DCN’s member companies meeting those conditions can be offered the same agreement.” Also read: Apple helped US build a 'top secret' iPod, claims former engineer The letter cited communication between Apple veteran Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos where the two companies agreed on a 15% revenue-sharing deal for new customer sign-ups for Prime Video through app store. The email emerged during the Committee hearing on July 29. The latest missive comes days after Apple removed Epic Games’ “Fortnite” from its app store for violating in-app payment guidelines, prompting Epic to file federal lawsuits challenging the rule. Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

News publishers push back against Apple over app store terms

Facebook's executives are fielding questions from the US Federal Trade Commission on an antitrust fact-finding mission. CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered FTC queries under oath remotely over the course of two days this week, news website Politico reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the case.

"We are committed to cooperating with the US Federal Trade Commission's inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have," a Facebook spokesperson said, declining to confirm whether Zuckerberg gave testimony, on Thursday.

FTC investigations do no always lead to lawsuits.

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Last month Zuckerberg plus CEOs Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Sundar Pichai of Google were grilled for more than five hours in an unprecedented joint appearance -- by video -- before a House of Representatives panel investigating market dominance.

The head of a US congressional antitrust committee contended that the companies are too powerful and will likely emerge from the coronavirus pandemic even stronger.

Whether it's through self-preferencing, predatory pricing, or requiring users to buy additional products, the dominant platforms have wielded their power in destructive, harmful ways in order to expand, he said.

Facebook's executives are fielding questions from the US Federal Trade Commission on an antitrust fact-finding mission. CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered FTC queries under oath remotely over the course of two days this week, news website Politico reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the case.

Facebook's executives are fielding questions from the US Federal Trade Commission on an antitrust fact-finding mission. CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered FTC queries under oath remotely over the course of two days this week, news website Politico reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the case. "We are committed to cooperating with the US Federal Trade Commission's inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have," a Facebook spokesperson said, declining to confirm whether Zuckerberg gave testimony, on Thursday. FTC investigations do no always lead to lawsuits. × Last month Zuckerberg plus CEOs Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Sundar Pichai of Google were grilled for more than five hours in an unprecedented joint appearance -- by video -- before a House of Representatives panel investigating market dominance. The head of a US congressional antitrust committee contended that the companies are too powerful and will likely emerge from the coronavirus pandemic even stronger. Whether it's through self-preferencing, predatory pricing, or requiring users to buy additional products, the dominant platforms have wielded their power in destructive, harmful ways in order to expand, he said.

Facebook says it's fielding questions by US regulators

The world's richest man Jeff Bezos is being compared to the ruler of an autocracy and the ones making the accusation are his employees at Amazon.

Amazon employees protest against Jeff Bezos over reduced benefits

The world's richest man Jeff Bezos&nbsp;is being compared to the ruler of an autocracy and&nbsp;the ones making the&nbsp;accusation are his employees at Amazon.

Reducing employee benefits while getting rich during the pandemic,&nbsp;Amazon is fiercely cracking down on workers who ask such questions and to make Jeff Bezos listen to the demands protesters are banging on his door in New York.

Over the last two months, Bezos' New York apartment building has turned into a scene of protest with&nbsp;employees&nbsp;banging on the door. It&nbsp;is not an isolated incident&nbsp;since the Wuhan virus outbreak, Amazon workers have been protesting across the world.

According to them, the e-commerce giant has done little to keep its employees safe.&nbsp;The employees complain about lack of personal protective equipment, negligent safety guidelines, callous and unrealistic performance standards and inadequate compensation.

In June, Amazon ended wage increases and double overtime pay. For warehouse workers&nbsp;the hard pay of two dollars per hour has been discontinued. Health benefits have also been cut.&nbsp;

E-commerce is one of the few businesses that are flourishing during the pandemic with&nbsp;no dearth of money.&nbsp;Amazon has posted its biggest profit since its founding nearly 26-years ago helping Jeff Bezos retain the world's richest tag.

The protesters have made an additional demand this time not to Jeff Bezos, but legislators.&nbsp;It's being called the "Tax Bezos" movement.

A month ago, protesters even put a guillotine in front of Bezos' house to send a signal --- the death of all the wealthy men.

Amazon has not taken these protests lightly. At the Staten Island warehouse, employees walked out over safety concerns.

Chris Smalls who led the protest was fired. According to Amazon, Smalls was fired for not maintaining the social distancing norms but protesters say that is not the reason. Amazon is retaliating against vocal employees to stop them from forming unions.

In its defence&nbsp;the company says it acquired 100 million face masks for its workers in the last quarter and&nbsp;created jobs by hiring 175,000 people since the virus outbreak and spent nearly $700 million on employee benefits.

The world's richest man Jeff Bezos is being compared to the ruler of an autocracy and the ones making the accusation are his employees at Amazon. Reducing employee benefits while getting rich during the pandemic, Amazon is fiercely cracking down on workers who ask such questions and to make Jeff Bezos listen to the demands protesters are banging on his door in New York.

The world's richest man Jeff Bezos is being compared to the ruler of an autocracy and the ones making the accusation are his employees at Amazon. Reducing employee benefits while getting rich during the pandemic, Amazon is fiercely cracking down on workers who ask such questions and to make Jeff Bezos listen to the demands protesters are banging on his door in New York. Over the last two months, Bezos' New York apartment building has turned into a scene of protest with employees banging on the door. It is not an isolated incident since the Wuhan virus outbreak, Amazon workers have been protesting across the world. According to them, the e-commerce giant has done little to keep its employees safe. The employees complain about lack of personal protective equipment, negligent safety guidelines, callous and unrealistic performance standards and inadequate compensation. In June, Amazon ended wage increases and double overtime pay. For warehouse workers the hard pay of two dollars per hour has been discontinued. Health benefits have also been cut. E-commerce is one of the few businesses that are flourishing during the pandemic with no dearth of money. Amazon has posted its biggest profit since its founding nearly 26-years ago helping Jeff Bezos retain the world's richest tag. The protesters have made an additional demand this time not to Jeff Bezos, but legislators. It's being called the "Tax Bezos" movement. A month ago, protesters even put a guillotine in front of Bezos' house to send a signal --- the death of all the wealthy men. Amazon has not taken these protests lightly. At the Staten Island warehouse, employees walked out over safety concerns. Chris Smalls who led the protest was fired. According to Amazon, Smalls was fired for not maintaining the social distancing norms but protesters say that is not the reason. Amazon is retaliating against vocal employees to stop them from forming unions. In its defence the company says it acquired 100 million face masks for its workers in the last quarter and created jobs by hiring 175,000 people since the virus outbreak and spent nearly $700 million on employee benefits.

'Tax Bezos': Amazon employees protest against Jeff Bezos over reduced benefits

Jeff Bezos is very rich, so is Bill Gates and so is Mark Zuckerberg. But can you really assess how rich they are.

There can be no definite parameter, you say. "Researchers" have, however, devised a way -- knowing how long it would take him to, for example, earn your entire years’ salary, tackle your entire student debt or pay off your mortgage.

A new website will you give you these exact numbers, as they apply to Bezos and 14 other tech moguls. The company says it uses data on salary, bonuses, earnings from equity and other forms of compensation from 2019 SEC filings to let you calculate just how quickly people like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Susan Wojcicki of YouTube and Reed Hastings of Netflix could pay off all of your expenses.

The data hence tells us the 15 best-paid CEOs in tech have a combined annual income of over $83bn --&nbsp;greater than the entire gross domestic product of hundreds of countries.

One will be surprised to know Bezos earns a common man's entire salary in under a minute.

As for Elon Musk, his net-worth is almost 20 times the entire budget of the county he sued. He could pay a common man monthly rent after less than 30 minutes of work. 
&nbsp;

Jeff Bezos is very rich, so is Bill Gates and so is Mark Zuckerberg. But can you really assess how rich they are. There can be no definite parameter, you say. "Researchers" have, however, devised a way -- knowing how long it would take him to, for example, earn your entire years’ salary, tackle your entire student debt or pay off your mortgage.

Jeff Bezos is very rich, so is Bill Gates and so is Mark Zuckerberg. But can you really assess how rich they are. There can be no definite parameter, you say. "Researchers" have, however, devised a way -- knowing how long it would take him to, for example, earn your entire years’ salary, tackle your entire student debt or pay off your mortgage. A new website will you give you these exact numbers, as they apply to Bezos and 14 other tech moguls. The company says it uses data on salary, bonuses, earnings from equity and other forms of compensation from 2019 SEC filings to let you calculate just how quickly people like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Susan Wojcicki of YouTube and Reed Hastings of Netflix could pay off all of your expenses. The data hence tells us the 15 best-paid CEOs in tech have a combined annual income of over $83bn -- greater than the entire gross domestic product of hundreds of countries. One will be surprised to know Bezos earns a common man's entire salary in under a minute. As for Elon Musk, his net-worth is almost 20 times the entire budget of the county he sued. He could pay a common man monthly rent after less than 30 minutes of work.

Use this calculator to assess how rich billionaires really are

Four of the most powerful men in the tech world faced some major heat in an unprecedented anti-trust hearing. When US lawmakers brought up China - Bezos, Pichai, and Cook stayed quiet. But, Zuckerberg talked. WION's Palki Sharma brings you the highlights of the hearing.

Gravitas: Big tech CEOs evade questions on China

Social media giant Twitter on Friday explained how Bitcoin scammers hijacked celebrity accounts of&nbsp;Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos and Kim Kardashian&nbsp;two weeks ago.

The tech firm revealed that&nbsp;hackers responsible for the&nbsp;recent high-profile breach used&nbsp;a&nbsp;phone to fool the social media company's employees into giving them access.

They used the technique of "spear-phishing" to attack, which&nbsp;is a practice of sending emails ostensibly from a known or trusted sender in order to induce targeted individuals to reveal confidential information.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/australia-unveils-law-forcing-google-facebook-to-pay-for-news-317157" hreflang="en">Australia unveils law forcing Google, Facebook to pay for news</a>

Attackers also targeted specific employees who had access to account support tools,&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/an-update-on-our-security-incident.html">Twitter</a>&nbsp;said, adding that it restricted access to its internal tools and systems ever since the incident occurred.

Hackers had accessed&nbsp;Twitter's internal systems on July 15 to hijack some of the platform's top voices including US&nbsp;presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former US&nbsp;President Barack Obama and billionaire Elon Musk and used them to solicit digital currency.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/amazon-takes-on-spacex-set-to-invest-10-billion-in-satellite-broadband-plan-317163" hreflang="en">Amazon takes on SpaceX, set to invest $10 billion in satellite broadband plan</a>

Publicly available blockchain records show the apparent scammers received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency.

The hackers targeted 130 accounts. They managed to tweet from 45 accounts, access the direct message inboxes of 36, and download the Twitter data from seven. Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has said his inbox was among those accessed.

Twitter didn't provide any more information about how the attack was carried out, saying it would provide a more detailed report later, given the ongoing law enforcement investigation. The company has previously said the incident was a coordinated social engineering attack&nbsp;that targeted some of its employees with access to internal systems and tools.

Social media giant Twitter on Friday explained how Bitcoin scammers hijacked celebrity accounts of Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos and Kim Kardashian two weeks ago. The tech firm revealed that hackers responsible for the recent high-profile breach used a phone to fool the social media company's employees into giving them access.

Social media giant Twitter on Friday explained how Bitcoin scammers hijacked celebrity accounts of Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos and Kim Kardashian two weeks ago. The tech firm revealed that hackers responsible for the recent high-profile breach used a phone to fool the social media company's employees into giving them access. They used the technique of "spear-phishing" to attack, which is a practice of sending emails ostensibly from a known or trusted sender in order to induce targeted individuals to reveal confidential information. Also read: Australia unveils law forcing Google, Facebook to pay for news Attackers also targeted specific employees who had access to account support tools, Twitter said, adding that it restricted access to its internal tools and systems ever since the incident occurred. Hackers had accessed Twitter's internal systems on July 15 to hijack some of the platform's top voices including US presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former US President Barack Obama and billionaire Elon Musk and used them to solicit digital currency. Also read: Amazon takes on SpaceX, set to invest $10 billion in satellite broadband plan Publicly available blockchain records show the apparent scammers received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency. The hackers targeted 130 accounts. They managed to tweet from 45 accounts, access the direct message inboxes of 36, and download the Twitter data from seven. Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has said his inbox was among those accessed. Twitter didn't provide any more information about how the attack was carried out, saying it would provide a more detailed report later, given the ongoing law enforcement investigation. The company has previously said the incident was a coordinated social engineering attack that targeted some of its employees with access to internal systems and tools.

Twitter reveals how Bitcoin scammers hijacked celebrity accounts

Four most powerful men in the tech world will answer pointed questions from the US lawmakers in a crucial anti-trust hearing. Watch report.

Big Tech CEO's divided on China technology heft | US Congress | World News

Key moments of antitrust hearing: Bezos' snack, 'Put your mask on'

Amazon.com Inc's chief executive,&nbsp;Jeff&nbsp;Bezos, escaped questioning for about an hour in a high-profile US&nbsp;House of Representatives antitrust hearing on Wednesday in what may have been the result of a tech glitch.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/google-steals-content-from-honest-businesses-sundar-pichai-questioned-316889" hreflang="en">'Google steals content from honest businesses': Sundar Pichai questioned</a>

Lawmakers, who held the hearing via videoconference, focused on asking the CEOs of Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc a barrage of questions on alleged abuses of market power.

Bezos&nbsp;was questioned intensely later on in the hearing. Any issue with his video stream would not have been the only technical challenge affecting the antitrust grilling in Washington, however.

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Poor audio quality, flat-screen televisions going off, chief executives appearing together as thumbnails on a large screen - led to observers on Twitter and frustrated viewers to mock the virtual set-up.

The committee did not immediately comment on the issue.

"Worst zoom quiz night ever," tweeted Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, sharing a screenshot of the executives shown in small side-by-side boxes.

The CEOs were later shown individually on large screens, leading some viewers to call on the Twitter account @ratemyskyperoom to judge their surroundings. Others criticized the executives' sound quality or delayed audio.

It was not clear what happened with Amazon's virtual feed, according to a congressional aide with direct knowledge of the matter.

Amazon did not immediately comment on the issue.

The committee also took a 10-minute break to fix technical issues for those in the hearing room.

Amazon.com Inc's chief executive, Jeff Bezos, escaped questioning for about an hour in a high-profile US House of Representatives antitrust hearing on Wednesday in what may have been the result of a tech glitch.

Amazon.com Inc's chief executive, Jeff Bezos, escaped questioning for about an hour in a high-profile US House of Representatives antitrust hearing on Wednesday in what may have been the result of a tech glitch. Also read: 'Google steals content from honest businesses': Sundar Pichai questioned Lawmakers, who held the hearing via videoconference, focused on asking the CEOs of Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc a barrage of questions on alleged abuses of market power. Bezos was questioned intensely later on in the hearing. Any issue with his video stream would not have been the only technical challenge affecting the antitrust grilling in Washington, however. × Poor audio quality, flat-screen televisions going off, chief executives appearing together as thumbnails on a large screen - led to observers on Twitter and frustrated viewers to mock the virtual set-up. The committee did not immediately comment on the issue. "Worst zoom quiz night ever," tweeted Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, sharing a screenshot of the executives shown in small side-by-side boxes. The CEOs were later shown individually on large screens, leading some viewers to call on the Twitter account @ratemyskyperoom to judge their surroundings. Others criticized the executives' sound quality or delayed audio. It was not clear what happened with Amazon's virtual feed, according to a congressional aide with direct knowledge of the matter. Amazon did not immediately comment on the issue. The committee also took a 10-minute break to fix technical issues for those in the hearing room.

Bad audio, problems with video; Did glitch help Bezos escape early questions in Washington hearing?

WION Fineprint: US tech giants gird for tough hearing, Antitrust hearing in US

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, 48, has donated nearly $1.7 billion to various social causes linked to gender, race and equality.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/one-day-gain-in-net-value-amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-makes-13-billion-tesla-chief-musk-adds-5-billion-314919">Also Read:&nbsp;One day gain in net value: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos makes $13 billion</a>

"I gave each a contribution and encouraged them to spend it on whatever they believe best serves their efforts," MacKenzie said, adding, "every one of them is tackling complex challenges that will require sustained effort over many years, while simultaneously addressing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic."

MacKenzie who had taken 4 per cent stake in Amazon after the divorce with Bezos last year and saw her fortune rocket to $56.9 billion after the company's stocks surged over 4 per cent in the stock exchange earlier this month. Jeff Bezos owns 12 per cent of Amazon with a net worth of $171.6 billion.

Mackenzie Scott is now the second richest woman in the world after L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers.&nbsp;The Amazon founder's ex-wife said she had donated the money to at least 100 non-profit organizations.&nbsp;

"Like many, I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror," Scott said.

MacKenzie Scott had married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and they have four children. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in a garage in Seattle in 1994.&nbsp;

During the divorce settlement, MacKenzie Scott gave up her stake in The Washington Post and Bezos's space exploration firm Blue Origin including her voting control at Amazon.

"Life will never stop finding fresh ways to expose inequities in our systems, or waking us up to the fact that a civilization this imbalanced is not only unjust, but also unstable," Scott said while revealing that NGOs related with racial equity received the maximum donation of 586 million with $399 million going to organizations on economic equality and the rest of the amount to non-profit organizations connected to gay rights, gender, public health and climate change.&nbsp;

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, 48, has donated nearly $1.7 billion to various social causes linked to gender, race and equality. Also Read: One day gain in net value: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos makes $13 billion "I gave each a contribution and encouraged them to spend it on whatever they believe best serves their efforts," MacKenzie said, adding, "every one of them is tackling complex challenges that will require sustained effort over many years, while simultaneously addressing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, 48, has donated nearly $1.7 billion to various social causes linked to gender, race and equality. Also Read: One day gain in net value: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos makes $13 billion "I gave each a contribution and encouraged them to spend it on whatever they believe best serves their efforts," MacKenzie said, adding, "every one of them is tackling complex challenges that will require sustained effort over many years, while simultaneously addressing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic." MacKenzie who had taken 4 per cent stake in Amazon after the divorce with Bezos last year and saw her fortune rocket to $56.9 billion after the company's stocks surged over 4 per cent in the stock exchange earlier this month. Jeff Bezos owns 12 per cent of Amazon with a net worth of $171.6 billion. Mackenzie Scott is now the second richest woman in the world after L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers. The Amazon founder's ex-wife said she had donated the money to at least 100 non-profit organizations. "Like many, I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror," Scott said. MacKenzie Scott had married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and they have four children. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in a garage in Seattle in 1994. During the divorce settlement, MacKenzie Scott gave up her stake in The Washington Post and Bezos's space exploration firm Blue Origin including her voting control at Amazon. "Life will never stop finding fresh ways to expose inequities in our systems, or waking us up to the fact that a civilization this imbalanced is not only unjust, but also unstable," Scott said while revealing that NGOs related with racial equity received the maximum donation of 586 million with $399 million going to organizations on economic equality and the rest of the amount to non-profit organizations connected to gay rights, gender, public health and climate change.

Jeff Bezos ex-wife MacKenzie Scott gives nearly $1.7 billion of Amazon fortune to social causes

Several high-profile Twitter accounts were simultaneously hacked on July 15 by attackers who used the accounts with millions of followers to spread a cryptocurrency scam. watch report.

Bitcoin scammers hack Twitter | Prominent US personalities hacked

Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai will testify before the House committee in Congress over anti-trust issues in July.

The CEOs of the four biggest technological companies&nbsp;will be questioned regarding their increasing market power, revenue and prominence amid escalating scrutiny from lawmakers according to&nbsp;Shadawn Reddick-Smith, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/french-anti-trust-regulators-fine-apple-123-billion-286882">French anti-trust regulators fine Apple $1.23 billion</a>

It has not yet been decide whether the executives will appear in person or virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although most of them have already appeared before the Congress, but this is the first time that the CEOs will do so regarding antitrust concerns. The hearing will be the first time Jeff Bezos will apear before the Congress.

The questions about other issues the executives are also likely to face include&nbsp;Amazon's treatment of its warehouse workers or the spread of hate speech on Facebook and YouTube.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/growing-tide-of-coronavirus-cases-hit-amazon-warehouses-288731">Growing tide of coronavirus cases hit Amazon warehouses</a>

All four companies are being investigated by state or federal departments over an array of issues. While, the Justice Department Prosecutors are preparing a possible antitrust case against Google this year, after an inquiry homed in on its control of advertising technology and the search engine market.

Meanwhile, Amazon's business and Facebook's acquisition of smaller companies are being&nbsp;investigated&nbsp;by the Federal Trade Commission.

Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft are the five biggest technology&nbsp;companies according to&nbsp;market value.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai will testify before the House committee in Congress over anti-trust issues in July. The CEOs of the four biggest technological companies will be questioned regarding their increasing market power, revenue and prominence amid escalating scrutiny from lawmakers according to Shadawn Reddick-Smith, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee.

Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai will testify before the House committee in Congress over anti-trust issues in July. The CEOs of the four biggest technological companies will be questioned regarding their increasing market power, revenue and prominence amid escalating scrutiny from lawmakers according to Shadawn Reddick-Smith, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee. Also read: French anti-trust regulators fine Apple $1.23 billion It has not yet been decide whether the executives will appear in person or virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although most of them have already appeared before the Congress, but this is the first time that the CEOs will do so regarding antitrust concerns. The hearing will be the first time Jeff Bezos will apear before the Congress. The questions about other issues the executives are also likely to face include Amazon's treatment of its warehouse workers or the spread of hate speech on Facebook and YouTube. Also read: Growing tide of coronavirus cases hit Amazon warehouses All four companies are being investigated by state or federal departments over an array of issues. While, the Justice Department Prosecutors are preparing a possible antitrust case against Google this year, after an inquiry homed in on its control of advertising technology and the search engine market. Meanwhile, Amazon's business and Facebook's acquisition of smaller companies are being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission. Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft are the five biggest technology companies according to market value.

CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google to testify in Congress over antitrust issues

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