Bezos vs. Musk: Amazon CEO’s Share Sell-Off Sparks Race for Richest Person

Based on current value, the stocks are equivalent to 9 billion dollars
Bezos expected to surpass Musk if he sells his stake
Amazon and Tesla’s stock prices also play a role

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has decided to sell 50 million shares of Amazon within a year. It is drawing attention to whether he will reclaim the world’s richest spot by pushing out Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.

Bloomberg reported on the 3rd (local time) that Amazon had notified this in a business report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the report, Bezos has planned to sell 50 million shares at any time before January 31, 2025. The current price is worth $8.6 billion.

The sales plan was revealed after Amazon’s stock price rose nearly 8% the day before. The stock price rose on the news that Amazon recorded its highest online sales growth since the COVID-19 pandemic in the fourth quarter of last year.

Bloomberg pointed out that if Bezos sells his stake in a rising stock market, he could secure a large amount of cash and take the world’s richest spot. Bezos has not been able to top the Bloomberg Billionaires Index since the end of 2021. The last time he sold his stake was also in 2021. However, according to the index updated the day before, Bezos’s assets increased by $12.1 billion in a single day, narrowing the gap with CEO Musk to $8.1 billion. Musk is currently facing a crisis of having to cough up $56 billion worth of stock options due to court decisions and Tesla’s stock’s poor performance.

Bloomberg explained, “As the stock prices of Amazon and Tesla are moving in opposite directions, the gap between Bezos and Musk is narrowing. Amazon has benefited from the rebound of tech stocks that pulled the New York Stock Exchange to a record high, while Tesla is struggling with a series of bad conditions.