Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) founder and CEO Jeff Bezos sold $2.48 billion worth of the company’s shares between May 3 and May 4, 2021, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings (1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7).
Bezos offloaded the 739,032 shares in a pre-arranged trading deal. With the sale, Bezos still accounts for over 10% of the company’s stock while retaining his top spot as the world’s richest man with a cumulative net worth of approximately $193 billion.
In 2020, Bezos sold over $10 billion of his Amazon stake in three batches in February, August, and November. The share sale is part of Bezos’ commitment to offload at least $1 billion annually to fund his other company, Blue Origin.
Picks for you
“My business model right now…for Blue Origin is I sell about $1 billion of Amazon stock a year, and I use it to invest in Blue Origin,” said Bezos
Amazon to sustain pandemic gains with projected revenue surge
The sale comes after Amazon emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the coronavirus pandemic with its services becoming essential in managing the lockdown.
The company is set to keep reaping the benefits from the pandemic, with 2021 revenue projected to surpass $500 billion. Last year, the company posted $386 billion in revenue, an annual increase of about 38%.
The pandemic has resulted in a massive shift towards online shopping, and with the pandemic undertaking various waves, the firm is bound to benefit. Amazon shares rallied 76% in 2020, as people stayed indoors.
Despite Amazon holding the status as a successful eCommerce platform, the company still trails eBay’s workforce efficiency. eBay makes $811,024 revenue per employee, which is three times more than Amazon’s $297,381. Elsewhere, Alibaba revenue per employee stands at $285,540 as of 2020.
Early this year, Bezos revealed that he plans to step down as the company’s CEO by the end of 2021. He will shift his attention to his other entities, including the Washington Post, Blue Origin, and Bezos Earth Fund. Bezos will hand over management reigns to AWS CEO Andy Jassy.
