AMZN: Amazon Stock Pops as Jeff Bezos Dumps Shares to Cash Out $1.5 Billion

“I sold books, now I sell whatever I want,” Bezos, probably, as he offloaded 6.6 million shares of his tech empire. He still has plenty left. Plenty.

📈 Bezos Sells $1.5 Billion Worth of Shares

• Amazon stock AMZN jumped 1.8% Thursday, on the news that founder Jeff Bezos offloaded another 6.6 million shares earlier this week for a cool $1.5 billion. The sales, disclosed in a Wednesday SEC filing, were executed under a preset 10b5-1 trading plan.
• That brings Bezos’ total liquidation across 2024 and 2025 to 95 million shares — $18.2 billion worth — with another $1 billion in shares still queued up to sell. Investors, unfazed, focused on Amazon’s strength near record highs and its $2.5 trillion valuation as the world’s fourth-largest company.
• Even after all the selling (and another $1 billion in charitable stock donations in the past two years), Bezos still holds over a billion shares of the tech firm he founded in 1994. That stake is now worth $232 billion.

🛍️ Fundamentals Hold Strong

• Bezos’ sales have followed four separate 10b5-1 plans in the past 18 months — the kind that auto-executes trades based on preset rules, helping avoid any perception of acting on insider info.
• While some founders’ selling would spark panic, Bezos selling Amazon stock is now just part of the scenery. His remaining stake still gives him unmatched skin in the game.
• Meanwhile, Amazon stock is up just 5% on the year, trailing some of its mega-cap peers, but still hovering near its all-time high — a sign investors remain confident in its long-term narrative.

🚀 AI, Cloud, and Scale

• Amazon’s next leg higher? That’s expected to be fueled by cloud strength, AI integration across AWS, and the relentless growth of its advertising and e-commerce platforms. Insider moves aside, the focus remains firmly on execution.
• As for Bezos, the world’s third-richest person, sitting on $253 billion, continues to diversify — whether it’s with space, philanthropy, (a Venice wedding?) or a few billion in extra liquidity.
• Amazon reports second-quarter earnings on Thursday and markets are eyeing $1.32 in earnings per share, up from $1.26 in the year-ago quarter. Revenue is expected to hit $162.1 billion, up from $148 billion a year ago.