Bezos Sold 2 Trillion Won Worth of Amazon Shares Over Two Days

CNBC "Intention to Focus More on Blue Origin and Philanthropic Activities"

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon
Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos recently sold $2 billion (approximately 2.2 trillion KRW) worth of Amazon shares he owns.

According to CNBC on the 5th (local time), CEO Bezos sold $1.27 billion worth of Amazon shares on the 3rd, followed by an additional $680 million worth of shares on the 4th. In two days, he sold about $2 billion worth of Amazon shares.

Earlier, CEO Bezos sold $3 billion (approximately 3.3 trillion KRW) worth of Amazon shares in November last year, and in February alone, he sold shares worth $4.1 billion (approximately 4.6 trillion KRW), indicating that he has been continuously disposing of his Amazon shares recently.

The reason CEO Bezos is cashing out shares consecutively is analyzed to be to raise funds in advance for his personal ventures, given that he announced he will step down as Amazon CEO in the third quarter of this year.

Previously, CEO Bezos stated that he would sell $1 billion worth of Amazon shares annually and invest the proceeds in his space exploration company Blue Origin. With Blue Origin announcing the launch of a manned spacecraft to challenge the first space tourism carrying civilians in July, it is expected that CEO Bezos will inject additional funds to accelerate Blue Origin's space business.

Additionally, CEO Bezos has also announced plans to continuously fund the charity organization 'Day One Fund,' which he founded in 2018. This organization is a public interest group aimed at providing free education to low-income families and helping homeless people achieve self-reliance. He also invested $10 billion (approximately 11 trillion KRW) to establish the climate change response fund called the 'Bezos Earth Fund.'

In particular, as Amazon's market capitalization has surged, cashing out shares has become easier, which appears to be why CEO Bezos is selling shares consecutively. It is known that the value of the Amazon shares he currently holds is at least $170 billion (approximately 191 trillion KRW).

CNBC reported, "With CEO Bezos announcing he will step down in the third quarter this year, he is expected to focus more on space business and philanthropic activities going forward."