CNBC AI News, July 27 – Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos has completed the planned sale of shares under his preset trading program, according to recent media reports.
A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 25 revealed that Bezos offloaded the remaining shares on July 23rd and 24th. With this move, he concluded the plan, initiated earlier this year, to sell 25 million Amazon shares, netting approximately $5.7 billion.
This round of divestitures began in late June, coinciding with Bezos’s lavish wedding in Venice, Italy. The prearranged plan allowed him to sell up to 25 million shares under predetermined conditions. Amazon’s stock has demonstrated robust performance this year, climbing 38% from its late-April low. As of the most recent trading day, the stock closed at $231.44 per share, giving the company a market capitalization of $2.457 trillion.
Bezos has a long history of selling Amazon stock, often funneling the proceeds into his other ventures, most notably, the space exploration company Blue Origin. Since 2002, he has sold Amazon shares worth over $50 billion. He has previously stated his intention to sell approximately $1 billion in stock annually to support the development of Blue Origin.
Since stepping down as Amazon CEO in 2021, Bezos has continued to reduce his holdings. In February, he unveiled a larger plan to potentially sell up to 50 million shares before the end of January 2025.
Currently, Bezos holds the third position on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a net worth of approximately $240 billion. He trails Tesla CEO Elon Musk ($363 billion) and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ($260 billion).
Bezos celebrated his marriage to former news anchor Lauren Sánchez in Venice from June 26th to 28th. The opulent affair reportedly cost between €40 million and €48 million, with over 200 high-profile guests, including Bill Gates and Kim Kardashian.
The wedding involved approximately 30 gondolas ferrying guests, creating congestion in the canals and requiring a significant police presence to maintain security. This sparked criticism and protests from some local residents who argued that the event exacerbated Venice’s “overtourism” issues.
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