Jeff Bezos Closer To Replace Elon Musk As World Richest Person? Amazon Co-founder Plans To Sell 50M Shares Worth Over $8.6B Amid Stock Surge

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, reportedly plans to sell up to 50 million of his Amazon shares over the next year. This move comes as the company’s stock continues to soar, bringing Bezos closer to reclaiming the title of the world’s richest person.

What Happened: The disclosure to sell Bezos' Amazon shares was revealed in a filing on Friday, according to which the co-founder and former CEO of the company has implemented a trading strategy to offload 50 million shares at any time before Jan. 31, 2025, reported Bloomberg. 

The potential sale, which could be worth around $8.6 billion at the current share price, would mark the first time Bezos has sold Amazon stock since 2021.  

See Also: Jeff Bezos Made Over $7.9 Million An Hour Every Hour In 2023 — In Under 13 Minutes, He Brought In The Equivalent Of What The Typical Person Earns In A Lifetime

The development follows Amazon’s report of its highest online sales growth since the early days of the pandemic. This led to an 8% surge in the company’s shares, reaching $172. 

Consequently, Bezos' wealth increased by $12.1 billion, bringing him within $8.1 billion of surpassing Elon Musk as the world’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Bezos hasn’t held the top position on the index since 2021.  

Why It Matters: The gap between Bezos and Musk has been narrowing as Amazon’s shares rise while Tesla Inc. faces challenges. Musk’s wealth could also be affected by a recent court decision that voided his $55 billion pay package.

Meta Platforms Inc.'s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also seen a significant increase in his wealth thanks to the soaring stock price of his company, leading to the speculation that he could soon overtake Bill Gates as the world’s fourth-richest person.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Jeff Bezos Photo by lev radin on Shutterstock