Bezos’ $2B Stock Sell-off: What’s Behind It?

Jeff Bezos, Executive Chair of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), has made headlines once again with the sale of more than $2 billion in shares this week.

Reports reveal that Bezos offloaded approximately 12 million Amazon shares at prices around $170 per share in five transactions conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, as indicated by a regulatory filing on Friday.

Despite this substantial sell-off, Bezos still retains ownership of about 976 million shares of Amazon (AMZN).

The disclosure of this remarkable sell-off comes in the wake of a plan adopted by Bezos earlier this month, which enables him to sell as many as 50 million shares before early next year, equating to an estimated $8.6 billion in stock.

This plan was made public in Amazon’s 2023 annual report and was put into effect on Nov. 8, 2023 under the SEC’s rule 10b5-1(c). The plan allows for the selling of up to 50 million shares over a period of time before Jan. 31, 2025, subject to certain conditions. Before the recent share sales disclosed on Friday, Bezos, who co-founded Amazon in 1994, possessed roughly 10% of the company, owning approximately 990 million shares.

Notably, Bezos had refrained from selling any Amazon (AMZN) shares since 2021 until this week. However, he did make a unique purchase of a single share on May 25, 2023.