During the surge in Amazon's stock price, Jeff Bezos plans to sell 50 million shares for the first time in two years. Is he cashing out at a high point?

As Amazon's stock price soars, founder and former CEO Bezos has announced plans to sell his shares.

On Friday, February 2nd, Eastern Time, Amazon filed a document with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing that Bezos has established a trading plan to sell 50 million shares of Amazon stock by January 31, 2025. This means that Bezos plans to sell 50 million shares within the next year, which, based on Amazon's current stock price, is valued at approximately $8.6 billion.

In early November 2021, Bezos disclosed that he sold $3.33 billion worth of Amazon stock. Based on the quantity calculation after the 1-for-20 stock split that took effect in June 2022, he sold a total of 20 million shares in 2021. In May 2022, Bezos unexpectedly bought 1 share of Amazon stock at a price of $114.77, without explaining the reason. This was the first time Bezos had bought Amazon stock since 2002.

If Bezos executes the aforementioned plan, it will be the first time he has sold his Amazon shares since 2021. However, this sale plan coincides with Amazon's stock price reaching new highs, and the scale of his cash-out will far exceed the level of two years ago.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on Bezos' stock sale plan. On the day of the disclosure, Amazon's stock price opened significantly higher, rising by about 8.3% in early trading, and is expected to reach a new three-year closing high, with its market value surpassing Google's parent company Alphabet for the first time since 2021.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as Amazon's stock price surged on Friday, Bezos' personal wealth also increased significantly, adding nearly $13 billion during intraday trading, trailing behind the world's richest person, Tesla CEO Musk, by about $5.7 billion. Since 2021, Bezos has not been ranked first in this index.

Amazon's stock price has benefited from the positive earnings announced after Thursday's market close. In the fourth quarter, Amazon achieved its best online sales growth since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amazon's net sales in the fourth quarter exceeded expectations, growing by 14% to $169.96 billion, and its operating profit far exceeded expectations, reaching $13.21 billion, a 26% increase compared to analyst expectations. The midpoint of Amazon's guidance for the first quarter is also higher than market expectations: net sales guidance ranges from $138 billion to $143.5 billion, with analyst expectations at $142.01 billion; operating profit guidance ranges from $8 billion to $12 billion, with analyst expectations at $9.12 billion.

Media reports, such as Wallstreetcn, have pointed out that Amazon's revenue growth rate in the fourth quarter was about twice as fast as its expense growth rate, indicating that cost-cutting measures are improving profitability without affecting growth.Analysts believe that despite concerns in the tech industry, Amazon's performance has been surprisingly strong. The results show that the continued cost-cutting measures have had a positive impact on Amazon's business prospects.

In November of last year, Bezos announced that he would be relocating from Seattle, Washington, where Amazon's headquarters has been located for nearly 30 years, to settle in Miami, Florida. At the time, Bezos stated that the reason for the move was "my parents, my fiancée, and also because Blue Origin's rocket company has more operations there."

At first glance, it seems like Bezos is "following love and traveling far away," leaving behind Seattle, which was the "place where the dream began" during his more than 20 years of marriage to his ex-wife.

However, some media outlets interpret the move to Miami as a shrewd decision by Bezos. Florida does not have a state capital gains tax, which is an advantage for Bezos when it comes to cashing out his Amazon stocks. Washington state has recently started implementing a capital gains tax, so by moving away, Bezos may avoid missing out on the tax "wealth" generated from selling his stocks.