Jeff Bezos plans to offload $5 billion worth of Amazon shares

Money | July 4, 2024, 12:04 p.m.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is planning to sell nearly $5bn worth of shares as the company's stock price reached an all-time high, reaching a $2 trillion valuation. The planned sale of 25 million shares represents a significant jump from the beginning of the year, far surpassing the average market gains. Bezos, the world's second-richest person, currently owns about 8.8 percent of Amazon's outstanding stock. The surge in Amazon's value can be attributed to the growing demand for artificial intelligence, particularly from its cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services. The company's value has been further bolstered by major contracts, such as a $1.3bn deal with the Australian government for a "top secret" cloud for military and intelligence agencies. With Bezos' estimated net worth at $214.4bn, the sale of shares follows a previous $8.5bn transaction earlier this year. Amazon's continued investment in cloud services, including expansions in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, signal a promising future for the tech giant in the AI revolution.