Jeff Bezos sells off $2 bn in Amazon shares

LOS ANGELES

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has sold off about $2 billion in shares of the online distribution giant, according to recent stock market filings.

Bezos sold on Wednesday and Thursday some 12 million Amazon shares, at between $168-171 per share, according to documents sent to stock market regulatory authorities Friday.

A previous stock market document, out Wednesday, reported his intention to sell, next July, 50 million shares of the group he founded 30 years ago, and of which he is today executive chairman.

Bezos's fortune is estimated by Forbes at $195.5 billion, making him the third richest man on the planet, behind Frenchman Bernard Arnault, CEO of the LVMH group and Elon Musk, the boss at Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX.

Amazon most recently released financial results February 1, which far exceeded expectations.

The tech behemoth achieved a sales turnover of $170 billion and a net profit of $10.6 billion, driven by faster deliveries and a particularly successful holiday season.

Amazon stock jumped more than 13 percent the next day on the New York Stock Exchange.