Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, sold Amazon shares worth 3.1 billion dollars this week.
CEO Jeff Bezos sold Amazon shares worth $3.1 billion this week. As a result, Bezos has now sold a total of $7.2 billion worth of Amazon shares since the beginning of the year.
- The sale comes a week after Bezos testified before the House Antitrust subcommittee.
- The price per share ranged from $3,102 to $3,183 during the sale, rising to $3.1 billion in total.
- Bezos still holds 54 million shares in the company that he founded, or about $170 billion.
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The sale comes a week after Bezos testified before the House Antitrust subcommittee on the growing market power of technology companies.
Bezos sells one million shares
Like the biggest sale by executives, the company had previously planned this sale, alerting companies in need. Bezos began raising nearly 1 million shares on Monday, according to regulatory filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The price per share ranged from $3,102 to $3,183 during the sale, rising to $3.1 billion in total. That includes $4.1 billion worth of Amazon shares he paid for in February.
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However, don’t worry, Bezos still holds 54 million shares in the company that he founded, or about $170 billion. The shares he holds on Amazon make him the billionaire of the century and the richest man in the world so far.
Long-term plan
One may wonder why a rich man like Bezos should sell shares. The reason is that he uses Amazon’s growing business to fund his other company, Blue Origin. Blue Origin is an aerospace company that aims to create a commercial transport system for space.
About 3 years ago, Bezos announced that, would sell $1 billion worth of Amazon shares each year to finance space efforts. This year, however, he went even higher than that goal, which may be due to Amazon’s star 2020 performance.
Although many companies have struggled during epidemics, Amazon is in the right position to thrive. With a specialization in online retail and home entertainment, Amazon has easily catered to the needs of the millions of people trapped in the home.
Also, local, small business losses are Amazon’s gain. With so many smaller companies coming under, Amazon was able to grab even more market share. But they are not alone. This trend has benefited many large technology companies this year.
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As a result, some lawmakers have raised hopeless concerns.
Testifying to the Antitrust Subcommittee
Just last week, Bezos joined Facebook, Apple and Google chief executives in a virtual trial before the House Antitrust subcommittee. Many members of the congressional committee raised concerns about the growing power of big technology, especially monopoly power and privacy.
The subcommittee roasted Bezos on the use of Amazon data from third-party vendors.
But don’t be fooled. The sale of Amazon shares does not in any way mean that Bezos is trying to reduce its grip on market power. As the world’s richest individual continues to engage in AI and space travel, he sometimes seems to be on the verge of conquering the world.
