Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has sold off $4.1 billion in shares of his own company in the last 11 days as part of a new prearranged trading plan, according to a report from CNBC.
The cashing-out of the stock included a $579.8 million off-loading on Friday (Feb. 7), according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.
Bezos also sold off $1.65 billion in shares last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, and there was another $1.8 billion worth between the end of January and the beginning of February, according to filings.
The plan is a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan, though Amazon representatives had no comment on the matter on Tuesday (Feb. 11).
Bezos’ stock sales have ramped up in recent years, with $2.8 billion sold off last August and other large blocks sold in 2016 and 2017. Bezos has previously said that the reason for the stock sales is to fund his space exploration project Blue Origin, and to further the Day One Fund‘s mission to provide education for low-income communities and to help the homeless.
The Day One Fund awarded $98.5 million to 32 groups via grants last November.
Bezos has been in the public eye during his split from ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos. MacKenzie also recently sold about $400 million of her stake in the company under Bezos’ name, as he holds sole voting control over her stake. MacKenzie’s stake is now at 19.5 million shares, around 200,000 less than the 19.7 she had before.
In the wake of the split, MacKenzie entered the ranks of the world’s richest women, holding a 4 percent stake of Amazon, which is worth $37 billion.
Amazon has re-entered the $1 trillion stock range recently, after investing in logistics and committing to one-day shipping to ensure customer satisfaction.
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