Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and currently the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine with a net worth of 188.2 billion, sold almost $3 billion stocks in transaction starting on Monday.
Amazon’s one million stock was sold at prices from $3102 per share to more than $3183 per share. Amidst COVID-19 pandemic the stocks of the conglomerate rushed up. Many of the consumers started relying on e-commerce and online buying of products making its price rise. This has piled up a huge profit for the company. The company, according to reports, informed about 40% up in revenue of almost $88.9 billion from the same quarter last year.
To fund Blue Origin space venture, Bezos took the decision of selling $1 billion worth of stock of the company in a year. But in time he has increased both the amount and regularity of the sale. This year, a few months back, Bezos sold $ 4 billion stock of the Amazon company in February last. Last year Bezos sold $2.8 billion worth of stocks.
The price of the stock has more than doubled in the past few months. The billionaire saw his worth rise up by more than $70 billion after the sale. The net worth before the sale was a little higher than $186 billion.
According to Amazon’s proxy statement, Bezos still owns the voting right to a 15% stake in the company. Mainly the sales are done based on a schedule set out in advance.
Last year, during his divorce settlement with MacKenzie, Scott, the CEO received 75% of the couple held shares of the organization. Scott, signed a Giving Pledge, to give away most of her fortune to charity. 116 non-profit organizations are linked to receive funding, according to her pledge.
Bezos pledged $2 million, in September 2018, every year for Day One funding. This will help to support non-profits who help homeless families. It also makes a Montessori-based preschool national network. He also pledged $10 billion in February. This was given to the Bezos Earth Fund where research is done on Climate Changes.
This sale comes in less than a week after the antitrust Congressional hearing he faced.
After this sale, he is left with $54.5 million worth of stake in the Amazon. In the current price, the share’s value stands at $174.64 billion.