Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold approximately $3 billion in stock in transactions starting on Monday, according to regulatory filings made public Wednesday.
Bezos sold 1 million shares of Amazon stock at prices ranging from $3,102 per share to more than $3,183 per share, the filings show.
Amazon stock has soared since mid-March as millions of customers rely on the e-commerce giant amid the pandemic for online shopping, cloud computing, and more. Last week the company posted $88.9 billion in revenue, up 40% from the year-ago quarter, with profits far ahead of Wall Street expectations at $5.2 billion.
Bezos said in 2017 that he was selling $1 billion a year to fund his Blue Origin space venture, but he has been increasing the size and frequency of the stock sales. He sold $2.8 billion worth of Amazon stock a year ago, and around $4 billion earlier this year.
Significant stock sales by top corporate executives are often made based on a schedule set out in advance.
Amazon and Blue Origin declined to comment on the latest stock sale.
As Amazon’s stock has nearly doubled in five months, Bezos’ net worth was north of $186 billion before this week’s sale, up more than $70 billion this year, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Bezos owns or has voting rights to 15% of the company’s outstanding stock, according to Amazon’s latest proxy statement. Under his divorce settlement with MacKenzie Scott last year, the Amazon founder received 75% of the couple’s Amazon shares and retained voting authority for remaining shares.
Following the divorce, Scott — who recently changed her name — signed The Giving Pledge, a commitment to give away the majority of her fortune to charity. Last week she listed 116 non-profit organizations that will receive funding as part her pledge.
Bezos has stepped up his philanthropy in recent years, including a $10 billion climate change initiative and the $2 billion Day 1 Fund, which supports homeless services and early childhood education.
