Jeff Bezos in recent weeks has been very discreet.
Apart from a tweet about his family's huge donation - about $711 million - to the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, the billionaire has not spoken much.
Yet he had opportunities to speak. For example, his presence in the stands alongside Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, during a Thursday night game in mid-September prompted a lot of talk on social networks.
The game was the first to be broadcast exclusively on Amazon Prime, marking the entry of the group Bezos founded into America's favorite sport. The partnership with the NFL is the latest example of how Amazon (AMZN) continues to expand into all areas of daily life.
Amazon had acquired the exclusive streaming rights for Thursday Night Football in 2021, a deal that reportedly cost the company $1.3 billion.
Bezos is the world's second-richest person, behind Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Another opportunity for comment arose when his fortune had been exceeded on the chart by other executives. But he's reclaimed the No. 2 spot.
Bezos: 'Batten Down the Hatches'
The entrepreneur has just broken his silence with a warning about the health of the economy, which will reinforce fears that a recession is inevitable.
Because of its central place in e-commerce, Amazon is one of the reliable barometers of the health of public consumption, which in turn is a key engine of American economic growth.
"Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches," Bezos posted on Twitter on Oct. 18.
In other words, he says people must prepare for a crisis that seems on the horizon.
Comment Regarding Goldman CEO Solomon
The billionaire commented on a short video interview with David Solomon, the CEO of investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS), on CNBC, which was broadcast the same day. In the clip Solomon says that there is a big chance that the economy will enter a recession.
"I think it's a time to be cautious," Solomon said. "And I think that if you're running a risk-based business, it's a time to think more cautiously about your risk box, your risk appetite. I think you have to expect that there's more volatility on the horizon."
The banker added: "Now, that doesn't mean for sure that we have a really difficult economic scenario, but in the distribution of outcomes, there's good chance we could have a recession."
The economy's health is currently a subject of concern to markets, households and politicians alike, particularly as the U.S. midterm elections are just weeks away.
Many economists blame the Federal Reserve's monetary policy as one of the causes of the current downturn. The central bank was initially slow to raise its interest rates, thus allowing the prices of goods and products to rise, they say.
When the Fed subsequently pivoted by raising rates, it did so aggressively, in an attempt to crush inflation, which today is at a 40-year high. The problem, the same economists have warned, is that this effort will cause a so-called hard landing in the economy, a recession.
In addition to Solomon, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, (JPM) said on Oct. 10 that the economy would enter a recession "six to nine months from now.”
More than two-thirds (69%) of Americans are worried about the possibility of a recession by the end of 2023, according to a July survey by personal finance website Bankrate.com.
