Multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos has sold an additional 14 million Amazon shares, valued at approximately $2.4 billion (£1.9 billion).
This latest sale brings the total number of shares he has sold in the company over the last nine trading days to around 50 million, with a total value of about $8.5 billion. In November, the tech giant announced that Mr. Bezos would sell up to 50 million shares over the next year.
His sales of Amazon stock come as the shares have surged by more than 76% in the past year. Mr. Bezos, the company's founder and executive chair, had previously last sold Amazon shares in 2021. He has also donated shares in Amazon as part of his philanthropic efforts, most recently in 2022.
Mr. Bezos moved to Miami, Florida, from Seattle, Washington, last year, a decision that will save him nearly $600 million in taxes on the $8.5 billion worth of stock he has sold. Washington state taxes gains above $250,000 from the sale of shares or other long-term investments at 7%, while Florida does not have state taxes on incomes or capital gains. However, he will still be liable for federal taxes on the sale of the shares.
When Mr. Bezos announced his move to Florida, there was speculation that it was prompted by a potential tax bill he would have faced in Washington after the state approved a new tax on large stock sales. Mr. Bezos explained in November that his parents had recently moved back to Miami, where he spent part of his childhood, and that he wanted to be close to them and to his Blue Origin space project, which was "increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral."
"Lauren and I love Miami," he wrote on Instagram, referring to his fiancée Lauren Sánchez. "For all that, I'm planning to return to Miami, leaving the Pacific Northwest."
Mr. Bezos remains Amazon's largest shareholder and is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, with an estimated fortune exceeding $190 billion.
