Jeff Bezos sells more Amazon stock, bringing total to $6 billion this month.
Jeff Bezos sold $3 billion of Amazon.com Inc. stock, the latest in a series of sales that now exceed $10 billion this year.
Bezos unloaded 1 million shares on Monday and Tuesday under a pre-arranged trading plan, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. He continues to hold more than 10% of the company.
In the 15 years after Amazon.com Inc. went public in 1997, Bezos sold about a fifth of the online retailer for roughly $2 billion. The value of his stake has surged to such an extent that now comparatively small reductions in his holdings are bringing in vastly larger amounts. Amazon stock is up 75% this year, driven by consumers needing to shop from home as the coronavirus pandemic kept people away from physical stores, and the Seattle-based company is worth more than $1.6 trillion.
Bezosâs wealth has risen $76.1 billion to $191 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and his net worth increased by $10.5 billion on Wednesday alone, one of the largest single-day increases..
The Amazon founder has also become more conspicuous in his spending after years of cultivating a low profile. In addition to buying trophy properties and owning the Washington Post, he committed $10 billion in February to the âBezos Earth Fundâ to help counter the effects of climate change. Heâs previously said that heâs funding rocket company Blue Origin with about $1 billion a year through the sale of Amazon stock.
âThe price of admission to space is very high,â Bezos said in 2018, accepting the Buzz Aldrin Space Exploration Award at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner. âIâm in the process of converting my Amazon lottery winnings into a much lower price of admission so we can go explore the Solar System.â
The biggest hit to Bezosâs wealth was his divorce last year. His ex-wife MacKenzie Scott received a 4% stake in Amazon as part of the split. Scott, now worth $62.3 billion, is the 13th-richest person in the world.
