Jeff Bezos sells nearly $350 million of Amazon stock as 15 million-share plan begins

Jeff Bezos sold nearly $350 million of Amazon.com Inc. shares on Monday under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, marking his first Amazon stock sale of the year and starting a broader program to dispose of up to 15 million shares worth more than $4 billion. The filing came after Amazon hit a record high and crossed $3 trillion in market value, with the stock later described as up roughly 18% this year after earlier reporting had put the gain at about 20%. The sale trimmed Bezos's holdings to about 869 million shares, leaving him with an 8.16% stake valued near $245 billion and preserving his position as Amazon's largest individual shareholder. Investors have largely treated the sale as routine because it was prearranged, while Amazon's strong second-quarter results, AWS growth and expanding custom chip business continue to support bullish sentiment; analysts hold a Strong Buy consensus with an average 12-month target of $333.20.