It is the first time Jeff Bezos has sold Amazon’s stock since May 2021|Daniel Oberhaus|CC BY 2.0
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos has sold approximately $4 billion worth of shares in the company after offloading 24 million company shares over the past few days, according to a financial filing.
It is the first time Bezos has sold Amazon’s stock since May 2021, and it came with a significant tax benefit: Bezos avoided taxes on capital gains altogether. The billionaire saved more than $250 million on the sale.
How?
Bezos relocated from Washington to tax-friendly Florida last year to be closer to his parents.
In 2022, Washington imposed a new 7% capital gains tax on stock sales over $250,000, prompting Bezos to halt offloading company stocks until he moves to Miami, Florida.
Florida doesn’t impose state income taxes or capital gains taxes.
More to come
Bezos sold the shares in blocks ranging from 1 million to over 3.2 million. The sale, reported to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, took place on February 7 and 8.
With a plan to sell 50 million shares by January 2025, Bezos anticipates total savings of at least $610 million. Even after selling shares, Bezos remains the largest shareholder in Amazon.
Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021.