Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos has completed a massive round of stock sales worth nearly $5.7 billion, marking one of the largest insider divestments of 2025.
Bezos began the sell-off shortly after tying the knot in Venice in June, initially unloading $737 million worth of Amazon shares.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, he sold the final batch, about 4.2 million shares valued at $954 million, on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
The sales were executed under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan, allowing corporate insiders to sell stock over time without violating insider trading laws.
25 million shares sold
In total, the billionaire sold 25 million shares this year under the plan, capitalising on Amazon’s recent share price rally.
- The company’s stock has surged 38% since hitting a low in late April, buoyed by investor optimism around its aggressive investments in artificial intelligence.
- Amazon is expected to report earnings next week, with markets watching closely for AI-related progress.
- Despite the hefty divestment, Bezos remains Amazon’s largest individual shareholder, holding around 884 million shares—more than 8% of the company.
- His Amazon stake forms the bulk of his $252.3 billion fortune, ranking him as the third-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Not the first time
Bezos is no stranger to offloading Amazon stock. Last year, he sold 75 million shares for $13.6 billion, with much of the proceeds typically funneled into his other ventures like space exploration company Blue Origin.
He has also donated shares worth approximately $190 million to nonprofit organizations in 2025 alone. Notably, Bezos has only made one Amazon share purchase in more than two decades—a symbolic single share bought for $114.77 in 2023.
His recent $5.7 billion cash-out far exceeds that of other top executives in 2025. Oracle CEO Safra Catz sold $2.5 billion worth of shares in the first half of the year, while Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell offloaded a $1.2 billion stake.
What you should know
- Earlier in May, Bezos announced the plans to sell up to 25 million shares ($4.75 billion) of the company in filing with the U.S. SEC.
- This move, part of a pre-arranged trading plan, allows Bezos to gradually offload the shares over the next two years, with the sales set to conclude by May 2026.
- The sale of Amazon stock has long been a mechanism for Bezos to finance various ventures, including his space exploration company, Blue Origin, and philanthropic endeavors, further diversifying his portfolio beyond his e-commerce empire.
