Jeff Bezos Has Sold Billions in Amazon Stock — What Should You Do With Yours?
Written by
Angela Mae
Edited by
Levi Leidy
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At the start of 2024, Jeff Bezos owned 988,251,817 shares of Amazon stock, according to the SEC. In November of the same year, he owned 909,709,895 shares. This means he sold roughly 8% of his total shares, but he also still owns roughly 9% in Amazon.
In terms of monetary value, Bezos sold close to $3 billion in Amazon stock in November alone. During the course of the year, however, he’s sold over $13 billion.
For current investors in Amazon stock, these moves may seem like cause for concern. However, Bezos unloading Amazon stock is nothing new.
“Ultra-wealthy founders who have a lot of stock in a company will regularly and consistently sell for diversification’s sake, as well as to fund other initiatives they have,” said Paul Gabrail, founder and host at Everything Money. “In Bezos’s case, look at Blue Origin.”
Still, if you have Amazon stock and are wondering what to do with it now, here’s what the experts think.
Don’t Panic — Selling This Much Stock Is Nothing New
“Jeff Bezos selling $3.4 billion worth of Amazon stock won’t capsize this tech titan. Amazon is a fortress of innovation, and its value doesn’t hinge on one shareholder’s personal financial decisions,” said David Materazzi, CEO at Galileo FX. “Bezos has offloaded chunks of his stake before, and guess what? The company didn’t skip a beat.”
Materazzi likened this sale to “a gust of wind brushing against a skyscraper: It doesn’t shake the foundation.”
So, if you’re a current shareholder, don’t panic or take Bezos’s move as a red flag.
“Founders sell for a dozen reasons that have nothing to do with a company’s health,” said Materazzi. “Bezos might be funding his space ventures, philanthropy or just diversifying his portfolio. That doesn’t change Amazon’s long-term story, which is what should matter to you as an investor.”
Don’t Sell Just Because Bezos Did
Just because Bezos sold a percentage of his Amazon stock doesn’t need you need to do the same.
“Selling because Bezos did would be like trading away a championship team just because the coach switched uniforms. Makes no sense,” said Materazzi. “If this sale spooks the market and causes a dip, consider it a gift. Every great stock gives you second chances if you’re watching closely.”
You can buy or hold your current stock, but selling just because Bezos did might not be the best move.
“Buy if you believe Amazon’s growth story has years to run. Hold if you’re already in for the long haul. But selling? That’s only for folks who don’t know what they own,” said Materazzi. “Bezos doesn’t need to stay married to his shares for you to keep benefiting from Amazon’s success.”
Bezos Is Still Very Much in the Game
While selling $3 billion in stock might seem like a lot, Scott Ritchie, an investing expert over at Stoculator, believes otherwise.
“In my opinion, Bezos selling 8% of his shares shouldn’t be a concern to the investors, for a couple of reasons, which are related to both Bezos and Amazon. Bezos still owns close to 9% in Amazon and remains the top shareholder. He retired from running Amazon in 2021,” he said.
“If we want to look at Amazon as a company,” Ritchie continued, “looking at their Q3 report which was released at the end of October shows that their net sales increased 11% compared with Q3 2023. The net income increased almost 55%.”
Bottom Line
Ultimately, if you have Amazon stock, don’t worry about Jeff Bezos’s recent moves.
“Bezos is still very clearly committed to the Amazon company and the bulk of his net worth is still in Amazon stock,” said Gabrail. “For those reasons, I would not advise that investors take Bezos’s recent actions as any sort of signal to do anything with their own Amazon stock investments.”
Now, if he were to sell seemingly at random, that might be a different story.
“If Bezos started to sell a ton of stock randomly, I think that would be a bigger deal,” said Gabrail. “However, his recent selling of over $3 billion in stock still isn’t cause for alarm because he has been consistently selling for years.”
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