Jeff Bezos, executive chairman of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), is the second richest person in the world, with a net worth of $200 billion, just behind Elon Musk at $206 billion. He just added to the money, which is not locked up in Amazon stock. He made a sale of shares worth $2 billion. The information was posted in filings with the SEC.
The sale was a fraction of transactions in recent years. According to Bloomberg, “The Amazon founder has sold over $30 billion in shares since records going back to 2002, including about $20 billion combined in 2020 and 2021.” Some people believe Amazon is struggling.
It is not unusual for people who own large blocks of shares in companies they started or ran to sell shares once they retire or are less active. On July 5, 2021, Bezos gave up the CEO job to Andy Jassy. Bezos said, “We chose that date because it’s sentimental for me, the day Amazon was incorporated in 1994, exactly 27 years ago.”
Bezos continues to be paid by Amazon.com. However, the figure is very modest. According to the most recent proxy, his compensation was $1,681,140. However, $1.6 million of that “Represents the approximate aggregate incremental cost to Amazon of security arrangements for Mr. Bezos in addition to security arrangements provided at business facilities and for business travel,” the filing stated.
Amazon’s stock has had a remarkable run in the last year, up 78% to $175. During the same period, the S&P 500 has risen 23%. Investors often track insider sales as a signal of their sentiment regarding the future of their companies.
Bezos’ sale may have nothing to do with his view of how Amazon will do financially. It is too tiny a piece of his net worth to matter much.
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