Amazon founder Bezos sells shares worth over $4bn

Multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos has sold more of his shares in Amazon, bringing the total value of sales in recent days to more than $4bn ($3.2bn).

The technology giant, which he founded in 1994, said Mr Bezos has now sold 24 million shares in the firm this month.

Mr Bezos, who is Amazon’s executive chair, last sold Amazon shares in 2021.

Earlier this month, Amazon said he was planning to sell 50 million shares over the next year, which are worth around $8.4bn at current prices.

The first sale of 12 million shares was announced in a regulatory filing on Friday, followed by a second sale of another 12 million shares, which was announced on Tuesday.

Mr Bezos will not owe any taxes on his gains after moving to Miami in Florida from Seattle in the state of Washington last year.

When he announced the move, it prompted speculation over whether it was because of a potential tax bill he would have faced in Washington after the state approved a new tax on large stock sales.

Gains above $250,000 from the sale of stocks or other long term investments, are taxed at 7% in Washington state. Last year, it brought in an extra $900m to state coffers.

If Mr Bezos still lived in Seattle he would owe around $280m on the $4bn worth of stock he has sold.

Mr Bezos said in November that his parents had recently moved back to Miami where he spent some 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,” he added.

Mr Bezos remains Amazon’s biggest shareholder and is one of the richest people in the world, with an estimated fortune of more than $190bn.