Jeff Bezos unloads another $2 billion of Amazon stock in latest sale

The move to Florida has now likely saved Bezos about $430 million in taxes. Washington state recently implemented a 7% levy on capital gains, while Florida has no such tax

By Kristine Owram

Jeff Bezos has unloaded another 12 million shares of Amazon.com Inc. valued at $2 billion, bringing the total sold in the past week to more than $6 billion.

He sold the latest tranche on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a filing. The sales are part of an already disclosed plan to dispose of as many as 50 million shares of the company he founded. 

In total, he’s now sold about 36 million shares. Bezos hasn’t explained why he’s selling, but the timing of when he instituted the trading plan may provide a clue. He announced on Nov. 2 he was moving to Miami from the Seattle region and adopted a so-called 10(b)5-1 plan on Nov. 8.

The move to Florida has now likely saved Bezos about $430 million in taxes. Washington state recently implemented a 7 per cent levy on capital gains, while Florida has no such tax.

Spokespeople for Bezos and Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.