Jeff Bezos sells $737 million worth of Amazon shares

In a significant financial move, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has sold over 3.3 million shares of the company, totaling approximately $736.7 million, as revealed by a financial filing on Tuesday. This sale is a part of a pre-established trading strategy that Bezos put into place back in March. Under this plan, he intends to divest up to 25 million shares of Amazon by May 29, 2026. Although Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon in 2021, he continues to serve as chairman and remains the largest individual shareholder. This latest sale is consistent with his trend of regularly selling stocks over the past few years. In February 2024, he initiated another trading plan, allowing him to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock until the end of January this year. Bezos has publicly stated his intention to sell approximately $1 billion in Amazon shares annually to finance his aerospace venture, Blue Origin. Additionally, he has contributed shares to his nonprofit organization, Day 1 Academies, which focuses on establishing a network of Montessori-inspired preschools across various states. This stock sale comes shortly after Bezos and Lauren Sanchez celebrated their marriage in a luxurious wedding in Venice last week. The extravagant three-day event, which reportedly cost around $50 million, has drawn attention not only for its opulence but also for sparking protests from local residents. As of now, Bezos ranks third on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, with a staggering net worth of approximately $240 billion, trailing behind Tesla's Elon Musk, valued at $363 billion, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, with a fortune of $260 billion.