Jeff Bezos sells $2.5 billion of Amazon shares, signals more coming
PremiumBezos sold around 739,000 shares this week under a pre-arranged trading plan, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings
Jeff Bezos sold about $2.5 billion of Amazon.com Inc. stock, his first big disposal this year after offloading more than $10 billion in 2020.
Bezos sold around 739,000 shares this week under a pre-arranged trading plan, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The world’s richest person said he plans to sell as many as 2 million shares, according to a separate filing.
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Bezos continues to hold more than 10% of the company, the primary source of his $193.5 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The Amazon founder has used stock sales to fund rocket company Blue Origin, while he’s committed $10 billion to the “Bezos Earth Fund" to help counter the effects of climate change.
In the 15 years after Amazon.com Inc. went public in 1997, Bezos sold about a fifth of the online retailer for roughly $2 billion. The value of his stake has ballooned in recent years as Amazon stock surged meaning he can now sell relatively small amounts for billions of dollars. Amazon stock is is little changed this year after rallying 76% in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic kept people away from physical stores and encouraged online shopping.
Bezos would be far richer if it weren’t for his divorce from MacKenzie Scott. She received a 4% stake in Amazon as part of the split and quickly became one of the world’s most important philanthropists.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
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