Amazon, Inc. AMZN founder Jeff Bezos surprised everyone by buying merely one share of the e-commerce retailer in late May.
What Happened: Bezos, who ranks third in Bloomberg’s Billionaires list, filed a Form 4 on May 26 in which he disclosed the purchase of one Amazon share the day before. The stock was bought at a price of $114.77 compared to the $115 at which the stock closed the day’s trading session.
The filing also revealed that Bezos contributed 69,290 Amazon shares to a non-profit organization. Following these two transactions, the billionaire beneficially owned 990,476,371 shares of Amazon.
Since then, the stock has run up along with the broader market. The stock settled Friday’s session down 0.66% at $123.43, according to Benzinga Pro data. This suggests his investment has increased by about $8.70.
See Also: Everything You Need To Know About Amazon Stock
Why It’s Important: The late-May buy marked Bezos’ first purchase of an Amazon share since 2002, Bloomberg said. Since then, the tech entrepreneur has sold shares worth about $30 billion, potentially using the proceeds for varied end uses, ranging from funding his Blue Origin space venture to buying his $500 million superyacht Koru, the report added.
Bezos stepped down from his position as CEO of Amazon in July 2021, but still serves as the executive chairman of the company. He reportedly still owns about 10% of Amazon.
The single-stock purchase by Bezos sent social media into a tizzy, with some speculating that he might have wanted the physical certificate to gift someone, Bloomberg reported. Others even guessed he might have accidentally clicked the buy button on his brokerage account.
Sanford Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik reportedly joked that Bezos needed that one share to take control back.
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