Since his wedding day in late June, Bezos netted nearly 5.7 billion from the sale of Amazon.com Inc. shares.
Jeff Bezos wrapped up a massive sale of Amazon.com Inc. shares valued at $1.7 billion, according to reports. The Amazon founder made the transaction between July 21 and 22 – days before the company’s earnings report next week. The sale was executed under the prearranged trading plan known as Rule 10b5-1.
Jeff Bezos has been on a stock selling spree recently. Since his wedding day in late June, Bezos netted nearly $5.7 billion from the sale of Amazon.com Inc. shares.
As per Barrons report, the Amazon founder “isn’t done” and plans to sell more shares in the future.
What is 10b5-1 Trading Plan
SEC Rule 10b5-1 allows insiders at public companies to set up a plan to sell their shares ahead of time. These plans, when executed in good faith, provide an affirmative defense against insider trading allegations, even if the insider later possesses material non-public information. This means insiders can trade company stock at predetermined times and prices, even during periods when they might otherwise be prohibited from trading due to inside information.
The rule was introduced to clarify Rule 10b-5, part of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which is the main law used to investigate securities fraud.
Jeff Bezos to Sell More Amazon Shares?
The $5.7 billion windfall brings Bezos’s total cashouts since 2002 to more than $50 billion. The only time he ever bought stock on record was two years ago—one share at $114.77.
The massive sale comes ahead of Amazon reports earnings on July 31. Analysts expect $1.32 per share on $162 billion in revenue, up 4% and 9% respectively from last year’s Q2. This is still behind the average for the so-called Magnificent Seven, which is clocking in at 15% growth on earnings and 12% on revenue. Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia are leading the S&P 500 for 2025, while Apple’s falling behind, mostly over doubts around its AI strategy.
