Mark Cuban Owns Almost $1B Of Amazon Stock, Calls It The 'Best Startup In The World'

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban told Fox Business on Monday that Amazon.com, Inc AMZN is his largest stock holding. In a lengthy interview Cuban said he owns “close to a billion dollars” in Amazon shares.

“To me, Amazon’s the best startup in the world,” Cuban said.

Cuban has previously said Amazon and Netflix, Inc. NFLX have been top holdings of his for years, but the two FANG stocks have been struggling of late. Amazon shares are down 13.4% in the past year, while Netflix stock is down 28.9% in that time.

Following a disappointing earnings report, Cuban told Benzinga in July 2016 he doesn’t put too much weight on quarterly results for companies like Netflix and Amazon.

“I'm not worried about quarter to quarter fluctuations," Cuban said at the time. "[Netflix continues] to dominate the content and consumer delivery for over the top."

E-Commerce Can’t Be Denied

On Monday, Cuban said the fact that brick-and-mortar retail bankruptcies have accelerated in 2019 is further confirmation that Amazon’s e-commerce sales model is just as important as many investors had anticipated.

“I think traditional retailers, brick-and-mortar retailers, had hoped there would be ways to work around it, and some have found some solutions. But it’s not business as usual anymore, and if you opened up a store 10 years ago when rents were significantly higher and your rents escalate, you’re in trouble,” Cuban said on Fox Business.

In August 2018, Cuban said he owned just a handful of stocks, including Netflix, Amazon, “maybe four” dividend stocks and two short positions.

Benzinga’s Take

After more than a decade of leading the bull market higher, it’s reassuring to Netflix and Amazon investors that Cuban still sees upside in both Netflix and Amazon, especially after the two stocks have performed so poorly in the past year.

Do you agree with this take? Email feedback@benzinga.com with your thoughts.

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Photo by Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia.