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Bezos will sell up to 25 million Amazon shares, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, May 2. The sales are expected to be completed by Friday, May 29, 2026.
The shares could be worth up to $5 billion, depending on their value when sold. The tech giant's stock opened at $191.90 per share on May 2, down about 21% from its record high in early February.
Bezos, who serves as Amazon's executive chair, founded the company as an online bookstore near Seattle in 1994. In three decades, his net worth has grown to an estimated $212 billion, trailing only Tesla CEO Elon Musk on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
This is far from the first stock sell-off for Bezos.
In 2024, the 61-year-old sold about $13.4 billion in Amazon shares, the Financial Times reported. His sales came as the company's market value climbed past $2 trillion, fueled by investor excitement over artificial intelligence.
Bezos has gradually stepped back from Amazon's daily operations, focusing more on his space tech company Blue Origin and The Washington Post, the newspaper he owns. His share sales have helped finance Blue Origin, which reportedly costs more than $2 billion each year.
Bezos has faced criticism for his concessions to President Donald Trump, whom he once called a "threat to democracy." The billionaires have met several times in recent months and Bezos attended Trump's second inauguration in January.
The planned stock sale comes just days after a "pissed" Trump personally called Bezos, following reports that Amazon might display tariff costs on product listings. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the idea was a "hostile and political act."
After the call, Amazon clarified that the idea was never approved. Trump later praised Bezos to reporters, calling him a "good guy" and saying "he solved the problem very quickly."
Bezos has directed The Washington Post to sharpen its editorial focus on personal liberty and free markets. He stopped the newspaper from publishing its endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris before the 2024 Presidential election, sparking high-profile resignations and significant subscriber losses.
Meanwhile, Blue Origin gained extra attention in April when it flew the first all-female crew into space. The six women on the flight included pop star Katy Perry, CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, and Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez.
Bezos has also used his Amazon fortune on philanthropic ventures like the Day One Fund, which supports early education programs.
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