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Bezos cashing out Billions in Amazon Stocks · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everyone, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
• 0:05
  I'm thrilled to share some exciting news with you Over the
• 0:08
  next two weeks, we're evolving. We'll be broadening our focus to
• 0:11
  cover all the tech Titans shaping our world.
• 0:15
  You'll still get the latest insights on Elon Musk, plus so
• 0:19
  much more. So stay tuned for our official
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  relaunch coming soon. Now let's get into this episode.
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  Why is Jeff Bezos cashing out about $4.8 billion in Amazon
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  stock and what does that say about his future, Amazon's
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  outlook and the timing of his move to Florida?
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  So Jeff Bezos has submitted notice that he will sell up to
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  25,000,000 shares of Amazon by May 29th, 2026.
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  The public filing, made with the Securities and Exchange
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  Commission, states the sales are part of a prearranged trading
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  plan initiated on March 4th. At Amazon's current share price,
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  the potential sale amounts to about 4.8 billion now.
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  This comes just one day after Amazon posted its first quarter
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  results, which, while strong on paper, stirred new concerns
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  about what lies ahead. Bezos, who's still Amazon's
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  largest shareholder with over one point O 2 billion shares as
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  of February, has already sold large blocks of stock before.
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  But this latest disclosure raises new questions not just
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  about Bezos, but about the shifting financial realities
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  inside one of the most influential companies of all
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  time. Amazon's earnings report arrived
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  late Thursday and beat expectations in several
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  categories. Revenue reached $155.7 billion
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  for the quarter, marking a 9% increase from the same period a
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  year ago, and net income surged to 17.1 billion, or 1.59 per
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  share, outpacing Wall Street's expected 1.37 per share.
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  Now, these numbers confirm that Amazon Score businesses,
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  e-commerce Cloud advertising are still delivering, but the stock
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  barely moved. Shares closed with just a .2%
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  bump, trading at 190.62 dollars on Friday afternoon.
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  And that limited reaction reflects what investors are
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  still trying to understand how Amazon will handle the
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  uncertainty stemming from political pressure in
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  international trade volatility. Now, much of the concern centers
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  on new tariffs introduced by Donald Trump's White House.
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  Trump's measures could affect Amazon supply chain and pricing
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  structures. Report serviced this week the
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  Amazon was planning to visibly show customers the cost of
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  tariffs on the website. Now, that detail set off alarms
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  for Donald Trump and he personally called Jeff Bezos.
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  Amazon later clarified that it was not making such a change,
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  but the incident illustrated level of scrutiny now shadowing
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  Bezos and his company. Now, Bezos has a history of
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  liquidating large volumes of Amazon stock to fund his other
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  ventures. 2023 he sold $13.5 billion worth of shares, the
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  first time he had done so since stepping down as CEO in 2021.
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  Then included two major sales, one in February involving 50
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  million shares, another in July covering 29,000,000 more.
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  And those transactions were both worth billions and were
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  strategically timed. Now, one aspect of the timing
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  caught particular attention. Bezos officially moved from
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  Seattle, WA to Florida around the same time as those sales.
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  The Washington state implemented a 7% capital gains tax in 2022,
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  and if Bezos had remained in Washington, those sales would
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  have resulted in nearly $949,000,000 in tax liability.
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  And while he never publicly cited the tax as the reason for
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  his relocation, public records show that he did not sell any
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  Amazon stock in 2022 or 2023 while living in Washington.
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  You know Florida has no state income tax or capital gains tax.
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  The timing location change in stock sales paint a picture of
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  carefully calculated financial strategy.
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  Now, the new trading plan filed in March allows Bezos to spread
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  the 25,000,000 share sale over a span of more than two years, and
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  the structure suggests a more gradual exit compared to last
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  year's compressed schedule. But even at a slower pace, it
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  still adds up to a large dollar amount.
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  It also signals that Bezos is not retreating from liquidating
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  pieces of his Amazon stake, even if he continues to hold a
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  billion shares in the company. And Jeff hasn't been in
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  day-to-day control of Amazon since 2021, when Andy Jesse took
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  over as CEO. But its financial moves still
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  send a message, especially when they follow big corporate events
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  are aligned with major political regulatory developments.
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  After stepping away from Amazon, Bezos has devoted his attention
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  to Blue Origin as aerospace company and the $10 billion
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  Earth Fund he launched to address climate change and
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  biodiversity. It's also still active in
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  philanthropic efforts, including the Day One Fund, which supports
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  education and housing initiatives in underserved
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  communities. And selling shares allows him to
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  fund these endeavors. But it also naturally invite
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  scrutiny. If he's selling $4.8 billion
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  worth of stock, people want to know why and where it's going.
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  Is he making a personal pivot? Does he anticipate headwinds for
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  Amazon? Or is he simply capitalizing on
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  a favorable tax and marketing environment?
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  Now, the reality could be a combination of all three.
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  But when the world's second richest man moves billions out
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  of the company he founded, Reservers, pay attention.
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  There's another detail here that matters.
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  Bezos adopted the trading plan on March 4th, a full month
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  before Amazon's Q1 earnings report.
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  Timing ensures the sale complies with SEC rules governing insider
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  trading. Under Rule 10B51, executives can
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  set up prearranged sales to avoid accusations that they're
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  trading on material, non public information.
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  These plans are meant to instill public confidence that such
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  sales are routine and not opportunistic.
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  Now, the muted reaction to Amazon's earnings suggests that
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  even big profits are not enough to dispel anxiety about trade
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  friction, political intervention and global economic shifts.
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  And Bezos's decision to sell more shares can amplify that
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  anxiety. The stock sales last year came
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  during high points in Amazon's valuation.
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  Now, this year's announcement arrives amid growing volatility
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  in a different tone in Amazon's forward guidance.
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  Now, what sets this round of sales apart from those in 2023
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  is the broader context. In 2023, the sales followed a
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  market rebounded coincided with Bezos's move to Florida.
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  This time, Amazon is facing renewed tension with the White
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  House and structural uncertainties in its supply
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  chain. Whether tariffs will stick or
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  how deeply they will affect Amazon's cost structure remains
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  unclear. But Bezos making this move now
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  suggests he wants flexibility and a potentially more turbulent
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  business climate. The SAC filing didn't outline
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  specific dates or amounts for each individual sale, simply
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  lays out the maximum number of sales shares that may be sold by
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  May 29th, 2026. Lack of a detailed calendar is
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  the market may face sporadic moves as the trades unfold.
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  Now in the end, basis is plan to sell $4.8 billion in stock.
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  It's a move that he's making that's strategic.
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  Whether the signals point to personal ambition, political
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  calculation, or corporate uncertainty is preparing for
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  what comes next. He's doing it with his own money
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  and his own terms. Hey, thank you so much for
• 7:38
  listening today. I really do appreciate your
• 7:40
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  And please take care of yourselves and each other.
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  And I'll see you tomorrow.