Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon.com, has announced his plan to unload as much as 25 million shares of the company. He intends to carry out this sale within the next twelve months. In a quarterly financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, Bezos announced his decision. In defending this move, he has claimed that this is consistent with a trading plan he instituted on March 4. At today’s market prices, his stake in Amazon would net him around $4.8 billion from this sale.
This announcement comes on the heels of Bezos’ selling around $13.5 billion dollars in Amazon stock last year. His final trade of Amazon stock was in 2021, the same year he left the CEO post at the company he founded. Though he’s retreated from daily management, Bezos remains Amazon’s most powerful shareholder—literally, since he’s Amazon’s only majority shareholder. Yet his outsized control over the company continues to have a chilling effect.
Bezos’s other big media buy, The Washington Post, shows that his business interests extend far beyond Amazon. His decision to divest shares has drawn much publicity. That is particularly the case after then President Donald Trump personally contacted him with alarm. But immediately after Trump’s call, Amazon made clear that no such action would take place.
On December 4, 2024, Bezos took the stage during The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. This event was the latest example of his hands-on approach to framing high-stakes economic discussions. Politically, it strengthened his already-expansive power and influence on the corporate world.
Bezos sells these shares as a part of his regular trading plan. This approach is nothing new for Gates, which allows him to prioritize big investments like his climate focused ventures and philanthropy. He’s divesting from Amazon. Industry observers will be watching with great interest to see if this move has any positive effect on the company’s stock performance and overall investor sentiment.