Bezos Says Amazon Won’t Run Out of Money

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said that his company, the largest Internet retailer, will generate cash flow from operations in the rest of the year and that it therefore runs no risk of running out of money. Answering audience questions after speaking at a computer trade show in New York, Bezos said the Seattle company’s U.S. bookselling business was profitable in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2000. And he said that the combined U.S. books, music and video operations had an operating loss of just $2 million on $400 million in revenue in the first quarter. Amazon.com suffered its worst one-day stock drop Friday, falling 19% after a brokerage analyst warned of a coming cash crunch. Bezos said the analyst hadn’t called the company. “No company cares more about profitability than Amazon,” he said. Bezos declined to say when Amazon as a whole will turn profitable, saying that it is continuing to invest for future growth because the opportunities are compelling. Amazon shares rose $1.38 to close at $37.88 on Nasdaq.