Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. (2024)

News stocks

Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. (1) Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. (2)
  • In a surprising move, Jeff Bezos bought a single share of Amazon for about $115 in late May.
  • Bezos may have been engaging in some Elon Musk-style trolling, given the timing of the trade.
  • The Amazon founder hadn't purchased shares of his company in more than two decades, filings show.

Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. (3)

NEW LOOK

Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview

Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. (4)

Thanks for signing up!

Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go.

Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. (5)

Advertisem*nt

Jeff Bezos unexpectedly bought a single Amazon share in late May, marking his first known purchase of the company's stock in more than two decades. He may have been channeling Elon Musk and trolling Wall Street.

Amazon's billionaire founder and executive chair reported the May 25 trade to the Securities and Exchange Commission at 4:20 p.m. ET the next day. He also disclosed a gift of more than 69,000 shares to a nonprofit in the same filing.

The bizarre single-share purchase and the numbers implied by the reporting time and the stock donation — 4:20 and 69 — have fueled speculation that Bezos may have been mimicking his rival Musk.

The chief of Tesla and SpaceX has made plenty of playful references to the number "42" — a reference to Weed Day on April 20, and the answer to the "ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything" in "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" — and "69" in recent years. For example, Musk initially offered to acquire Twitter for $42 billion last year before sealing the deal at $44 billion.

Advertisem*nt

Bezos paid $114.77 for his Amazon share. Subtract the shares he donated, and his stake stood at 990,476,371 shares, worth $122 billion as of Friday's close. Amazon's stock price has climbed to $123.43 since then, meaning Bezos has made about $9 on the unusual investment.

Amazon stock has surged 47% this year, boosting the market capitalization of the e-commerce and cloud-services giant to $1.3 trillion. Bezos' roughly 990 million shares represent a nearly 10% stake in the company and account for most of his $147 billion net worth, as estimated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bezos' recent purchase is notable because he's overwhelmingly been a seller of Amazon stock in the past 20 years. Indeed, he's cashed out about $30 billion of stock to help finance his Blue Origin rocket company and fund other personal and business interests, per Bloomberg.

A broader rally of Big Tech stocks has lifted Amazon shares this year, as investors wagered that leading US tech companies would profit from the artificial-intelligence boom.

Advertisem*nt

Bezos' stock purchase was disclosed in an SEC filing on May 26 but has attracted fresh attention in recent days following a Bloomberg report.

Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. (2024)

FAQs

Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling.? ›

Jeff Bezos bought Amazon stock for the first time in more than 2 decades. He may be engaging in Elon Musk-style trolling. In a surprising move, Jeff Bezos bought a single share of Amazon for about $115 in late May. Bezos may have been engaging in some Elon Musk-style trolling, given the timing of the trade.

How much would you have if you invested in Amazon 10 years ago? ›

As a result, an investment of $10,000 a decade ago would be worth over $107,000 today. The company made many millionaires over the last decade, begging the question: Does it still have much to offer new investors? Let's examine Amazon's business more closely and determine whether it's still worth investing in in 2024.

Why did Jeff Bezos sell Amazon stock? ›

He's following a prescribed plan available only to corporate insiders—and his recent cross-country move will reduce the transaction's tax bill. Bezos sold his shares as part of a predetermined process for selling company stock. And his recent move to Miami will ease the tax burden of that process.

Who is richer, Bezos or Musk? ›

1 Elon Musk. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took back his spot as the world's richest man on Monday, dethroning Elon Musk on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

What stock is Jeff Bezos buying? ›

7 Stocks Jeff Bezos Is Buying
StockMarket capitalizationYear-to-date performance as of April 11
Remitly Global Inc. (RELY)$3.6 billion0.5%
Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN)$9.1 billion-59.2%
Sana Biotechnology Inc. (SANA)$2.1 billion129.4%
Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER)$160 billion23.7%
3 more rows
Apr 12, 2024

What will $10,000 be worth in 20 years? ›

The table below shows the present value (PV) of $10,000 in 20 years for interest rates from 2% to 30%. As you will see, the future value of $10,000 over 20 years can range from $14,859.47 to $1,900,496.38.

What if I invested $1000 in Amazon 10 years ago? ›

If you had invested in Amazon ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today. According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in November 2013 would be worth $8,061.01, or a gain of 706.10%, as of November 21, 2023, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

Who owns most of Amazon stock? ›

What percentage of Amazon (AMZN) stock is held by retail investors? According to the latest TipRanks data, approximately 54.65% of Amazon (AMZN) stock is held by retail investors. Jeffrey Bezos owns the most shares of Amazon (AMZN).

Who owns the most amount of Amazon stock? ›

Founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos is the largest Amazon shareholder, with more than 937 million shares, which represent a stake of about 9% in the company. Bezos' shares are worth an estimated $166 billion.

Are billionaires selling off their stocks? ›

"Billionaire CEOs like [Jeff] Bezos, [Mark] Zuckerberg, Jamie Dimon, and the Walton family are selling off massive amounts of their own stocks, and analysts think the CEOS may be bracing for an economic downturn," he said, adding, “An overheated stock market continues to climb to new heights as investors feed that ...

Who is the number 1 richest person? ›

Tesla's (and Texas') Elon Musk maintained his rank at the top of Forbes' list overall, sporting an estimated net worth of $195 billion. Bezos isn't far behind at $194 billion. Rounding out the top five are California's Mark Zuckerberg, Nebraska's Warren Buffett and Washington's Gates.

Who is the no. 1 richest actor in the world? ›

List of Top 10 Richest Actors in the World:-
S. No.NameNet Worth (in U.S. Dollar)
1Brock Pierce$ 2 Billion
2Tyler Perry$1 Billion
3Jerry Seinfeld$950 Million
4Dwayne Johnson$800 Million
6 more rows
Apr 23, 2024

Why are billionaires selling off their stock? ›

An overheated stock market continues to climb new heights. As investors feed the frenzy with a fear of missing out, economic insiders are unloading billions of dollars of stocks.

What does Bill Gates invest in? ›

CURRENT PORTFOLIO
TickerCompany% Portfolio
MSFTMicrosoft Corp.33.98%
BRK.BBerkshire Hathaway Inc.16.80%
CNICanadian National Railway Co.16.29%
WMWaste Management Inc.14.92%
18 more rows
Mar 12, 2024

What stocks are the rich buying? ›

3 "Magnificent Seven" Stocks Billionaires Are Selling, and the 1 They Can't Stop Buying
  • Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
  • Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
  • Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)
  • Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG)
  • Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)
  • Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META)
  • Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Feb 22, 2024

What if you invested $10,000 in Amazon 10 years ago? ›

As a result, an investment of $10,000 a decade ago would be worth over $107,000 today. The company made many millionaires over the last decade, begging the question: Does it still have much to offer new investors? Let's examine Amazon's business more closely and determine whether it's still worth investing in in 2024.

What are Amazon stock returns for 10 years? ›

Ten Year Stock Price Total Return for Amazon.com is calculated as follows: Last Close Price [ 179.62 ] / Adj Prior Close Price [ 15.02 ] (-) 1 (=) Total Return [ 1,096.0% ] Prior price dividend adjustment factor is 1.00.

How much is $10,000 invested in Amazon 20 years ago? ›

Those gains translate to a 23.2% compound annual growth rate for Amazon compared to a 6.2% CAGR for the S&P 500 in that time. As a result, $10,000 in AMZN stock purchased 20 years ago would now be worth $645,262. A $10,000 investment in the S&P over the same period, however, would amount to $33,452.

What would $1000 invested in Amazon in 1997 be worth today? ›

If you had invested $1,000 during Amazon's IPO in May 1997, your investment would be worth $1,341,000 as of August 31, according to CNBC calculations.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Arielle Torp

Last Updated:

Views: 6680

Rating: 4 / 5 (61 voted)

Reviews: 84% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Arielle Torp

Birthday: 1997-09-20

Address: 87313 Erdman Vista, North Dustinborough, WA 37563

Phone: +97216742823598

Job: Central Technology Officer

Hobby: Taekwondo, Macrame, Foreign language learning, Kite flying, Cooking, Skiing, Computer programming

Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.