Amazon (Photo: Bloomberg)
By Kristine Owram
Jeff Bezos owns another 12 million shares of Amazon.com Inc. worth $2 billion, bringing the total number of shares sold in the past week to more than $6 billion.
According to a filing, he sold the last tranche on Tuesday and Wednesday. The sales are part of an already disclosed plan to sell as many as 50 million shares of the company he founded.
In total he has now sold approximately 36 million shares. Bezos hasn’t explained why he’s selling, but the timing of his trading plan could be a clue. He announced on November 2 that he was moving to Miami from the Seattle area and adopted a so-called 10(b)5-1 plan on November 8.
The move to Florida has now likely saved Bezos about $430 million in taxes. Washington state recently introduced a 7 percent tax on capital gains, while Florida has no such tax.
Spokespeople for Bezos and Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
First print: February 16, 2024 | 07:30 IST