Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell company stock worth up to about $4.8 billion over the next year as the tech giant grapples with the impact of Trump administration tariffs.
Bezos adopted what’s known as a 10b5-1 trading plan in March, entitling him to sell up to 25,000,000 shares of Amazon through May 2026, according to an Amazon financial disclosure to federal regulators.
The tech billionaire, who stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021 but remains the company’s executive chair and top shareholder, took a similar step last February to offload $8.5 billion in Amazon stock.
The cash could go to support Bezos’ non-Amazon pursuits, including his multi-billion-dollar climate philanthropy and Blue Origin, his space venture.
The potential sell-off comes at a complex moment for Amazon as it attempts to navigate the new presidential administration and its on-again, off-again trade policies.
While the company’s first-quarter financial results on Thursday showed a 9 percent year-over-year net sales increase and a $3.1 billion increase in operating income, they also noted “recessionary fears” and uncertainty over “tariff and trade policies.”
“Obviously, none of us knows exactly where tariffs will settle or when,” Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said on a recent investor call, The New York Times reports.
The company is “maniacally focused” on keeping prices down and stocking up on extra inventory as a bulwark against the tariffs, Jassy added.
These preparations have put Amazon and Bezos in the crosshairs of the White House.
The Trump administration slammed the company earlier this week after reports Amazon was considering including information showing how tariffs were increasing prices on certain products.
“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”
Amazon later said such a disclaimer was “never approved and is not going to happen,” and Donald Trump claimed Bezos himself helped resolve the issue.
Trump has frequently attacked Bezos in the past over issues including the billionaire’s ownership of The Washington Post and Amazon’s relationship with the U.S. Postal Service.
As Trump prepared to return to the White House, however, Bezos has sought closer ties, giving Trump’s inaugural fund $1 million and attending Trump’s inauguration.
