NEW YORK: Jeff Bezos sold 3.3 million Amazon.com Inc shares in recent days, netting US$736.7mil.

The sale, which coincided with his star-studded wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice, is part of a 10b5-1 trading plan Bezos adopted in March for up to 25 million shares.

Since then, Amazon’s stock price has climbed more than 8% alongside a broader rally in US markets.

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bezos, 61, is the third-richest man in the world with a US$241.4bil fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He routinely uses 10b5-1 trading plans, selling 75 million shares last year for a total of US$13.6bil through the arrangements, which allow company insiders to offload shares at predetermined times.

Rule 10b5-1 is enacted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Since 2002, Bezos has unloaded Amazon shares worth about US$44bil, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

He’s a much less frequent buyer of the stock, making his first purchase two years ago in records going back to 2002 – a single share for US$114.77.

Bezos often sells his Amazon shares to fund Blue Origin, the space company he started in 2000.

In January, it debuted its new flagship rocket and successfully reached orbit after years in development, but a month later, it cut about 10% of its workforce in surprise layoffs as it looks to cut costs.

The stock sales mark Bezos’ first for the year, but he has given away nearly 930,000 shares to nonprofits in 2025.

In March, Bezos reported gifting shares worth around US$60mil at the time to undisclosed charities.

In May, he gifted another bundle of shares worth roughly US$125mil, followed by another US$5mil in June.

Bezos typically gives to his Bezos Earth Fund, which is a US$10bil commitment to fight climate change, and the Bezos Day One Fund, a US$2bil philanthropic initiative focused on homelessness. — Bloomberg