Jeff Bezos’ Amazon stake dips below 10% as sell-off streak continues

Jeff Bezos’ ownership stake in Amazon has fallen below 10% — marking a milestone in the billionaire’s decades-long relationship with the e-commerce giant he built from a Seattle garage.

The Amazon founder disclosed in an April securities filing that he holds 9.6% of the company’s outstanding shares after unloading more than 100 million shares over the past year.

A year ago, Bezos controlled about 10.1% of the company, according to regulatory records. When Amazon went public in 1997, he owned more than 43%.

5

Bezos’ latest divestments are part of a broader stock-selling spree that began after he stepped down as CEO in 2021 and handed day-to-day operations to successor Andy Jassy.

At that time, he still held about 14% of the company, filings show.

In February, Bezos filed to sell 25 million shares — a move that would net roughly $5 billion based on Amazon’s stock price at the time.

A subsequent filing in August revealed plans for another 25 million-share sale worth an estimated $5.4 billion.

He also donated more than 500,000 Amazon shares to charity in recent months, according to SEC disclosures.

Amazon’s stock has soared 38% since late April, giving Bezos an ideal window to cash out portions of his holdings.

5

The boom came as investors bet heavily on the company’s artificial intelligence push and cost-cutting drive under Jassy.

Even factoring in the sell-offs, Bezos remains one of the world’s richest individuals, with Bloomberg placing his net worth at about $240 billion. That trails the fortunes of only Tesla CEO Elon Musk and French luxury titan Bernard Arnault.

Bezos’ exit from Amazon’s corner office has freed him to focus on other ventures, including The Washington Post, which he bought in 2013, and his aerospace company, Blue Origin.

Both have undergone management shakeups in recent months as he looks to reboot performance.

At a New York Times conference last year, Bezos said “turning around The Washington Post” was among his top priorities.

5

“I have a bunch of ideas, and I am working on that right now,” he said.

“We saved The Washington Post once — this will be the second time.”

Under Bezos, the Washington Post has undergone a sweeping overhaul this year, merging key newsroom divisions, cutting about 4% of its staff and shifting to a digital-first approach amid falling subscriptions.

Bezos also refocused the opinion section around themes of free markets, patriotism and personal liberty — prompting both leadership shakeups and subscription cancellations.

The 60-year-old mogul — who married former TV anchor Lauren Sánchez in a star-studded Venice wedding in June attended by Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio — has become a regular presence in Los Angeles social and business circles.

Bezos has regularly used stock sales to fund his space ambitions for Blue Origin and for other private projects. He previously said he intends to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime.

5

His ex-wife, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, has also been trimming her Amazon stake.

A Tuesday regulatory filing viewed by Bloomberg showed that Scott cut her holdings by about 42% — roughly $12.6 billion — over the past year.

Scott, who walked away with 4% of Amazon in their 2019 divorce, now owns about 81 million shares. The 55-year-old has donated more than $19 billion to charitable causes since the split.

Bezos’ gradual pullback from Amazon contrasts sharply with his early years, when his stake represented nearly half of the company. He serves as executive chairman and retains significant influence even as his ownership stake approaches single digits.

When Amazon went public at $18 per share in 1997, it raised about $54 million and instantly made Bezos a multimillionaire.

His holdings soared in value through the dot-com boom and subsequent waves of expansion that transformed the online bookseller into a trillion-dollar global powerhouse.

5

After 27 years at the helm, Bezos stepped aside as CEO in July 2021 and handed control to Jassy — a longtime lieutenant who led Amazon Web Services.

Since taking over, Jassy has made his own mark by expanding the company’s sports-rights portfolio, including a blockbuster Thursday Night Football deal and a new pact with the NBA expected to begin later this month.

Bezos’ share sales this year have been executed through prearranged 10b5-1 trading plans, a mechanism designed to prevent insider trading by scheduling transactions in advance.

Neither Bezos nor Amazon immediately responded to Post requests for comment Wednesday.