Jeff Bezos to sell US$5 billion of Amazon shares after stock hits record high

AMAZON founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos is planning to sell almost US$5 billion worth of shares in the e-commerce giant, a regulatory filing showed, after its stock hit a record high.

The proposed sale of 25 million shares was disclosed in a notice filed after market hours on Tuesday (Jul 2). The stock had hit an all-time high of US$200.43 during the session. It has jumped more than 30 per cent so far this year, outpacing the 4 per cent gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index.

After the sale plan, Bezos would own about 912 million Amazon shares or 8.8 per cent of the outstanding stock.

He sold shares worth roughly US$8.5 billion in February after the stock rallied 80 per cent in 2023.

Bezos is ranked the second-richest person in the world with a net worth of US$214.4 billion, according to Forbes. He is also the founder of space company Blue Origin, which launched a six-person crew to the edge of space in May.

Amazon posted upbeat first-quarter results in April, as the Seattle-based technology giant rode the artificial intelligence wave. The company recently replaced Adam Selipsky as the head of its cloud computing unit with insider Matt Garman. REUTERS