Amazon shares worth $5 billion up for sale as their surging stock hits record

Amazon shares worth $5 billion are up for sale after the e-commerce stock hit a record high of $200.43. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos proposed selling 25 million shares Tuesday.

If the sale goes through, the Amazon founder will own about 912 million shares. The company’s shares have surged more than 30% on speculation about growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

This is the second time since 2021 that the company’s shares have been put up for sale. The first time was in February, when Bezos announced he would sell $8.5 billion worth of shares.

The news comes as Amazon ends three decades of global e-commerce dominance. Bezos pioneered online commerce in 1994 and ushered in the era of online shopping. It began by selling books online in 1994 and is now one of the leading global online shopping platforms.

According to Forbes, Bezos is the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $214.4 billion. Bezos started out selling books online and then diversified his business from spaceflight company Blue Origin to buying the Washington Post from the Graham family.