According to a regulatory track published on Friday, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, intends to sell up to 50 million shares of the company during the course of the upcoming year.
At the current price of the stock, the shares would be valued at around $8.6 billion.
Amazon’s annual report, which was released on Friday, disclosed Bezos’s intended stock sale in accordance with a Securities and Exchange Commission law that mandates such disclosures. The announcement also coincides with a day after the business revealed a record-breaking quarter for holiday sales, which caused Amazon’s stock to rise by about 8% on Friday.
Though he currently holds the position of chair of the board of Amazon, 60-year-old Bezos left his position as CEO of the firm he founded in 2021. After resigning from his position as CEO of the leading e-commerce giant, Bezos has primarily made news for his eccentric style choices, his relationship with fiancée Lauren Sanchez, and his aspirations to travel to space through his own company, Blue Origin.
According to the annual report, Bezos, subject to certain conditions, adopted a trading strategy to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock during a period ending on January 31, 2025.
It would seem that Bezos would be better off selling now. In 2022, the demand for online shopping caused by the epidemic and increased macroeconomic instability caused a sharp decline in Amazon’s stock price. Since then, the company’s current CEO, Andy Jassy, has implemented drastic cost-cutting measures, including several rounds of mass layoffs that have resulted in the loss of jobs for tens of thousands of employees. This year has seen a continuation of some layoffs.
Yet since then, Amazon’s stock has experienced a significant increase, rising by almost 90% from its December 2022 low of $84 per share.
Furthermore, Bezos would be exempt from state capital gains taxes on the stock transaction due to his recent relocation from Washington state to Florida. As of right now, Florida does not impose a capital gains tax. According to the Seattle Times, Bezos’ home state of Washington upheld a capital gains tax legislation last year.
