Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has sold off a total of four billion dollars worth of shares since last week after he sold off two billion this week and two billion last week, regulatory filings revealed.
The move comes after it emerged that Bezos will set up his primary residence in Florida, taking advantage of the Sunshine State’s tax system.
Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021. His current title is executive chairman. In the space of a week, he’s shed nearly 25 million shares of the company. These are the first shares that he’s sold since leaving his role as CEO.
Earlier this month, Bezos, who is consistently named as one of the wealthiest people in the world, said that he would sell 50 million of his Amazon shares by 2025 through brokerage firm Morgan Stanley.
Despite the sales, Bezos is still Amazon’s highest shareholder, owning close to ten percent of company stock.
According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, at the time of writing, Bezos is the third wealthiest person in the world with a worth of $190 billion, behind Elon Musk, who has a worth of $196 billion. At the top of the list are Bernard Arnault and family with a net worth of $215 billion.
The other major shareholders of Amazon are mutual fund Vanguard Group, who own 6.9 percent, asset managers BlackRock who own 5.8 and investment firm State Street who own 3.3 percent.
Bezos pictured with his fiancee Lauren Sanchez at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 2023
Bezos has used most of the money raised from selling Amazon stock to fund his other ventures, including space exploration
Since February 2023, Amazon shares have soared over 50 percent with its price close to an all time high. Its market capitalization is around $1.75 trillion
Since February 2023, Amazon shares have soared over 50 percent with its price close to an all time high. Its market capitalization is around $1.75 trillion.
Bezos backed away from Amazon in order to spend more time on his other projects, including the rocket company, Blue Origin, and his philanthropy.
His address on the stock filings is listed as Seattle, although he reportedly has relocated to Miami.
‘Lauren and I love Miami,’ he wrote on Instagram last year, referring to his fiancée Lauren Sánchez.
‘For all that, I’m planning to return to Miami, leaving the Pacific Northwest,’ he added.
Bezos announced that he was leaving his longtime home in Seattle last year to move to Miami, buying two properties on the ultra-exclusive Indian Creek island dubbed ‘billionaires bunker.’
Bezos said the move was to be closer to his parents and rocket launches at his Blue Origin space company, but it also came with a major tax perk.
Florida has no state income tax or capital gains tax, while Washington introduced a 7 percent capital gains tax on sales of stocks or bonds of more than $250,000 in 2022.
By 2025, his Florida tax savings would cover the cost of Koru – the $500 million superyacht he bought last year.
The nine-figure sum that Bezos is projected to save on selling his stocks over the next year assumes Amazon’s share price remains flat at its current level.
Bezos announced that he and Sanchez were decamping from Seattle to Miami in a social media post last year
Should the value of the shares continue to rise, his tax savings would also be even higher.
Amazon has seen its share price steadily rise over the last year.
The so-called ‘Magnificent 7’ tech stocks Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla were responsible for the vast majority of the S&P 500’s 24 percent growth in 2023.
And at the start of this month, the retail giant reported it had raked in $170 billion in the final quarter of last year thanks to a boost in holiday season shopping.
Amazon’s financial results beat analysts’ expectations and sent shares soaring by more than 8 percent in after-hours trading on February 1.
Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez own multiple properties on the island of Indian Creek, alongside retired NFL star Tom Brady and former First Daughter Ivanka Trump.
Bezos purchased two mansions for $147 million and is reportedly looking to buy a further three homes on the island.