Jeff Bezos to sell up to 50 million Amazon shares by Jan 31 next year

At current rate of $171.8 per share, stocks of Amazon which Bezos is willing to put on sale are worth $8.6 billion

Daisy Watts - Feb 05, 2024

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos speaks during an event about Blue Origins space exploration plans in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. — Reuters — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos speaks during an event about Blue Origin's space exploration plans in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. — Reuters

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, will sell up to 50 million shares of his e-commerce and cloud services firm over the next one year, according to a company filing.

With a current rate of $171.8 per share, the securities of Amazon which Bezos is willing to put on sale are worth $8.6 billion.

As highlighted in the company's annual report, the selloff plan was adopted by the company last year on November 8 and will reach its completion on January 31, 2025. However, this strategy is subject to certain conditions.

The shares of the company were recorded 8pc higher on February 2 (Friday) following the e-commerce tycoon reported an unprecedented increase in its holiday sales alongside an indication of early profits from its well-paid cloud business driven by AI-powered features.

Amazon shares had registered an upsurge of more than 80pc last year in the backdrop of persistently mounting value of tech stocks, surpassing the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Bezos established Amazon as a seller of books in 1994. In 2021, he resigned from his position as CEO and assumed the role of executive chairman.

At present, he holds the position of the world's third wealthiest man, with a net worth of $185 billion, as reported by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.