The sales took place on Wednesday and Thursday and netted just over US$2 billion, according to a filing.

Amazon disclosed on Feb 2 that Bezos plans to sell as many as 50 million shares of Amazon over the next 12 months, potentially cashing in on a stock surge that’s put him within reach of becoming the world’s richest person.

His fortune has climbed US$22.6 billion this year to US$199.5 billion as of yesterday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Amazon founder has sold over US$30 billion in shares since records going back to 2002, including about US$20 billion combined in 2020 and 2021.

He has primarily been gifting stock, including shares worth roughly US$230 million that were given to non-profit organisations in November.

Amazon, through a spokesman, declined to comment.