Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos plans to sell around $5 billion worth of stocks after Amazon's stock price hit a historical high. According to regulatory documents submitted after the market closed on Tuesday (July 2), the plan involves the sale of 25 million Amazon shares. On that day, Amazon's stock price hit a historical high of $200.43 during the trading day, the highest level since its listing in 1997, up more than 30% since the beginning of the year, far surpassing the Dow Jones Industrial Average index's increase of 4%.
In February this year, Bezos sold approximately $8.5 billion worth of Amazon shares in nine trading days, marking his first sale of company stocks since 2021.
After the completion of the latest sales plan, he will own approximately 912 million Amazon shares, accounting for 8.8% of the outstanding shares. Bloomberg's Billionaire Index calculation shows that these additional sales will make his sales this year reach approximately $13.5 billion.
Bezos currently ranks second on the global billionaire list with a net worth of $214.4 billion. He is not only the founder of Amazon but also owns Blue Origin, a space exploration company, and The Washington Post. Blue Origin successfully sent six astronauts to the edge of space in May, demonstrating its progress in the field of space.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the recent sales.
However, Amazon reported optimistic first-quarter results in April, benefiting from the growth of artificial intelligence technology, especially the promotion of generative artificial intelligence. The company recently appointed internal veteran Matt Garman to replace Adam Selipsky as head of the cloud computing department, which is also seen as an important move for the company to further tilt towards cloud computing and AI fields.
The market speculates that Bezos' decision to sell stocks may be related to his relocation plan announced in November last year.
Bezos plans to move from the Seattle area to Miami. Washington State will implement a 7% capital gains tax in 2022, while Florida does not have this requirement, which means his relocation may save him hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.
Overall, Bezos' sales plan undoubtedly has attracted widespread attention. With Amazon's continuous innovation in the technology and cloud computing fields, the market holds an optimistic attitude towards its future development. Bezos' series of actions in personal wealth management and corporate development also demonstrate his keen insight into market trends and investment opportunities.
On Wednesday, Amazon's stock price fell by 1.21%.
(Source: Google)