Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sells $8.5bn worth of shares

Multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos has sold another 14 million Amazon shares, worth around $2.4bn (£1.9bn).

The latest sale brings the total number of shares he has sold in the firm over the last nine trading days to about 50 million, with a value of around $8.5bn.

This month, the tech giant announced that Mr Bezos would sell up to 50 million shares over the next year.

His sales of Amazon stock comes after they have risen by more than 76% in the past year.

Mr Bezos, who is the firm's founder and executive chair, had previously last sold Amazon shares in 2021.

He has also given away shares in Amazon as part of his philanthropy, most recently in 2022.

As Mr Bezos moved to Miami in Florida from Seattle in Washington last year, he will save almost $600m in tax on the $8.5bn worth of stock he has sold.

Gains above $250,000 from the sale of shares or other long term investments, are taxed at 7% in Washington state. Florida does not have state taxes on incomes or capital gains.

However, he will still be liable to federal taxes as a result of selling the shares.

When Mr Bezos announced his move to Florida it prompted speculation over whether it was because of a potential tax bill he would have faced in Washington after the state approved a new tax on large stock sales.

Mr Bezos said in November that his parents had recently moved back to Miami where he spent some of his childhood and that he wanted to be close to them and to his Blue Origin space project, which was "increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral".

"Lauren and I love Miami," he wrote on Instagram, referring to his fiancée Lauren Sánchez.

"For all that, I'm planning to return to Miami, leaving the Pacific Northwest," he added.

Mr Bezos remains Amazon's biggest shareholder and is one of the richest people in the world, with an estimated fortune of more than $190bn.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.