Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chair of Amazon, intends to sell nearly $5 billion worth of shares in the e-commerce giant, according to a regulatory filing released after market hours on Tuesday.
The proposed sale of 25 million shares comes as Amazon’s stock reached an all-time high of $200.43 per share during the trading session.
Amazon’s shares have surged over 30% year-to-date, surpassing the Dow Jones Industrial Average index (.DJI), which has seen a modest 4% increase in the same period.
Following the planned sale, Bezos will retain approximately 912 million Amazon shares, equivalent to 8.8% of the company’s outstanding stock. Earlier this year, Bezos sold shares valued at around $8.5 billion in February, capitalizing on an 80% rise in Amazon’s stock price in 2023.
According to Forbes, Bezos ranks as the second-richest person globally with a net worth of $214.4 billion. Beyond Amazon, he is known as the founder of Blue Origin, a space exploration company that successfully launched a six-person crew to the edge of space in May.
Amazon recently reported strong first-quarter results in April, buoyed by advancements in artificial intelligence. The Seattle-based technology giant also announced the replacement of Adam Selipsky with insider Matt Garman as the head of its cloud computing unit.
