Bezos Cashes In $3.1B in Amazon Shares

Jeff Bezos cashed in more than $3 billion in Amazon shares on Monday and Tuesday, bringing the total for the year to $10.2 billion—which is less than what he made on Wednesday. Business Insider reports that the Amazon CEO's net worth jumped around $10.5 billion Wednesday as tech stocks soared in the stock market's post-election rally. According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Bezos sold a million shares this week under prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan, CNBC reports. Bezos still owns 53 million Amazon shares, making him the world's richest person, with an estimated net worth of $191 billion.

Bezos, whose already enormous fortune has vastly increased during the pandemic, says he puts around $1 billion a year from Amazon stock sales into his Blue Origin space company. He has cashed in a lot more stock this year than in previous years, which may be connected to the $10 billion climate change-fighting Bezos Earth Fund he announced in February. Sources told the Atlantic this week that Bezos plans to award $100 million grants to the Nature Conservancy, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the World Wildlife Fund, and the World Resources Institute. (More Jeff Bezos stories.)