Amazon.com's share price was down more than 80% from when Bezos wrote the previous year's shareholder letter.

True: AMZN's closing price at about the time the 2000 shareholder letter (published in 2001) was written was more than 80% below its price at about the time the 1999 letter (published in early 2000) was written. Mostly true: the decline is more than 80% on reasonable choices of dates around each letter, with only a small timing ambiguity. Mostly false: the decline was large but somewhat under 80% (about 70–80%) at the relevant dates. False: the decline was well under 70%, or the shares were not down.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 When Amazon Shares Fell 80% In 2000, Here's What CEO Jeff ... Benzinga · 26 March 2022

   “Between Bezos' annual letters to shareholders, the shares of Amazon plunged from $72.69 on March 24, 2000, to $10 on March 21, 2001 — that’s a steep fall of over 86%.”

2. E2 Amazon.com (AMZN) | Stock Price History & Returns | 1997 - 2026 Devyara · 1 January 2026

   “| 2000 | $0.78 | -79.53% | - | -79.53% | $4.07 | $4.57 | $0.74 | 44.1B |”

E1, an independent source, says AMZN fell from $72.69 on March 24, 2000 to $10 on March 21, 2001, the dates it gives for the two shareholder letters. That is a drop of more than 86%, well past the 80% threshold. E3 has only a calendar-year 2000 figure (-79.53%), so it does not measure the gap between the letter dates. It does, however, support the general size of the fall.