Why Jeff Bezos has sold Amazon shares worth $1.5B
What's the story
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has sold 6.6 million stocks of the firm, according to a Barrons report. The transaction was revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The shares are valued at around $1.5 billion and were sold between July 21 and 22, days ahead of Amazon's second-quarter earnings reveal scheduled for July 31.
Trading strategy
What's Rule 10b5-1?
The recent sale was executed under a prearranged trading plan known as Rule 10b5-1. This regulation from the US SEC permits insiders at public companies to set up a plan for selling their shares in advance. Under this rule, major stockholders can schedule the sale of a fixed number of shares at a set time, helping them avoid accusations of insider trading.
Continued sales
Over $4.8B worth of Amazon stocks sold in 2 years
Bezos isn't done selling his shares just yet. Earlier this month, he offloaded some Amazon stock worth around $737 million. Over the last two years, he has sold about $4.8 billion worth of company stocks. Even after the latest sales, the Amazon founder still has over a billion Amazon stocks worth $232 billion.
Future strategy
Plan to sell up to 25M shares
Bezos has revealed his intention to sell up to 25 million stocks through a trading plan "intended to satisfy Rule 10b5-1(c)" that ends on May 29, 2026. This is part of a broader trend as Bezos has already sold nearly $5.7 billion in shares since his wedding in late June.