More than a dozen tech billionaires on The Forbes 400 sold more than $15 billion worth of stock so far this year, with one person counting for more than half. Here’s who sold the most.
In November of last year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced a move from Washington to sunny, tax-friendly Florida, splashing out $234 million on three properties in Miami’s “billionaire bunker” in the process. Bezos moved to be near family and his space company Blue Origin’s headquarters, he said at the time.
Then came the stock sales. Between February and July, Bezos offloaded more than $8 billion worth of Amazon shares, after not selling any stock since 2021. Notably, the state of Washington’s new tax on capital gains, including stock sales, went into effect in January 2022 while Florida has none. A representative for Bezos did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s not just Bezos who is on a selling spree. As a group, the technology billionaires on The Forbes 400 ranking of America’s wealthiest people are richer than ever, worth $1.8 trillion—up more than $350 billion from last year, despite sales. With public market optimism—largely driven by hype around artificial intelligence—running high, and much of Big Tech worth more than ever, many billionaires have been cashing out big chunks of their stock lately, likely taking advantage of the lofty valuations.
www.forbes.com.au/news/billionaires/which-tech-titans-have-been-cashing-out-in-2024/