Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has sold over $3 billion in Amazon shares, according to a regulatory filing disclosed on Friday. This brings the company’s total sales in 2024 to over $13 billion.
The recent sale of over 16 million shares came with Amazon’s stock nearing $200 per share, a level it reached last July when Bezos made another major sale. This marked the highest valuation for Amazon’s stock since its 1997 listing on the NASDAQ, according to Geek Wire.
While the reasons for Bezos’s continued stock sale remain unclear, they come at a time when Amazon invests in new ventures and competes in a dynamic market. In particular, the company’s stock prices jumped 7% this week following the release of its third-quarter earnings report, which surpassed expectations.
Bezos still retains a substantial stake in Amazon, with a February 2024 proxy statement demonstrating that he controls approximately 10.8% of the company’s shares. Although he stepped down as CEO in 2021, he remains the chairman. However, he appears to be increasingly focused on other ventures like Blue Origin.
With a net worth of $222 billion, Bezos is ranked as the second-richest person in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, having gained $42.8 billion year-over-year thanks to Amazon’s stock performance. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, remains in the top spot.
In other news, Bezos, who is also the owner of Washington post, highlighted the newspaper’s recent decision to stop endorsing American presidential candidates due to a major “credibility gap” in the media industry.
