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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

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Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#31
post #15
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that all though? I'm guessing that plus whatever regular income tax for his bracket is...which is higher than all that combined. Edit: Why downvote a question? I appreciate the answers, and suspect I'm not the only interested party.

Provided the security/asset is held for a year or more, it is taxed as Long-Term Capital Gains, and given quite the tax break. It is even possible to pay 0% federal rate on sale of stock, I did it on my 2016 return.

Bezos founded Amazon, so he's definitely had them for over a year :)

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#32
post #3

That tax season will hurt!

The taxes (what, 20% capital gains?) seems an excellent deal for the ecosystem where he grew his company: a stable political system, strong asset protection enforced by strict laws, an educated workforce in a relatively unpolluted environment, etc.

20% does seem like a good deal for all those things, but it's important to remember that the top 20% already pays 95% of the taxes. So if those things are good they're only good because he's already been paying for them.

So if you enjoy the stable political system, strong asset protection, your free education, and relatively unpolluted environment it might be time to add Jeff Bezos to your Christmas card list to thank him for funding all that for you.

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#33
post #3

That tax season will hurt!

The taxes (what, 20% capital gains?) seems an excellent deal for the ecosystem where he grew his company: a stable political system, strong asset protection enforced by strict laws, an educated workforce in a relatively unpolluted environment, etc.

I would much rather that Bezos be allowed to keep all of his capital gains but have appropriate antitrust enforcement step in and reduce Amazon's market power a bit.

The recent upsurge of counterfeit products are evidence that Amazon is abusing its market power to the point of harming consumers.

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gates went from $10 billion to ~$78 billion ($68b gain; he topped out near $100b around Dec 1999) in about four years from mid 1994 to mid 1998. With an inflation adjustment, it's probably in his favor or very close. Masayoshi Son went from around $2 billion in early 1995, to $77 billion by the peak in late 1999 / early 2000 or so. Yasumitsu Shigeta was worth $42 billion briefly in February 2000, up from $1 billion a…

Were you just sitting on these data?

I guess there are far worse things one could be sitting on.

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gates went from $10 billion to ~$78 billion ($68b gain; he topped out near $100b around Dec 1999) in about four years from mid 1994 to mid 1998. With an inflation adjustment, it's probably in his favor or very close. Masayoshi Son went from around $2 billion in early 1995, to $77 billion by the peak in late 1999 / early 2000 or so. Yasumitsu Shigeta was worth $42 billion briefly in February 2000, up from $1 billion a…

Were you just sitting on these data?

"The man sitting across from him, a 40-something businessman with auburn hair, wearing a navy Italian suit jacket with a white shirt, worn casually, spoke in a thick American southern accent that hid the wiseness beyond his years and began with the net worth of various highly wealthy people, comparing their wealth to the time it took to obtain said wealth. Intrigued and slightly astounded, he jokingly asked the man, 'Were you just sitting on this data?' The man just laughed."

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gates went from $10 billion to ~$78 billion ($68b gain; he topped out near $100b around Dec 1999) in about four years from mid 1994 to mid 1998. With an inflation adjustment, it's probably in his favor or very close. Masayoshi Son went from around $2 billion in early 1995, to $77 billion by the peak in late 1999 / early 2000 or so. Yasumitsu Shigeta was worth $42 billion briefly in February 2000, up from $1 billion a…

Were you just sitting on these data?

When I see comments like these, I want to just sit them down and know all about their life.

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#37
post #3

That tax season will hurt!

The taxes (what, 20% capital gains?) seems an excellent deal for the ecosystem where he grew his company: a stable political system, strong asset protection enforced by strict laws, an educated workforce in a relatively unpolluted environment, etc.

Pretty sure offering those things to Bezos didn't cost the gov't $200M.

And at any rate, most of the money will probably go for an airport that will never be used in some influential senator's state.

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#38
post #3

That tax season will hurt!

Who says it's not going into a tax free foundation or some sort of trust? Don't assume he's paying taxes if there is a way to avoid.

If you wanted the money to go to your foundation, you would donate the stock to the foundation and sell it there. If you sell it first and then donate the cash, I believe charitable donations are phased out as deductions above a certain income level. (Or maybe the AMT wipes them out?)

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#39
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were you just sitting on these data?

"The man sitting across from him, a 40-something businessman with auburn hair, wearing a navy Italian suit jacket with a white shirt, worn casually, spoke in a thick American southern accent that hid the wiseness beyond his years and began with the net worth of various highly wealthy people, comparing their wealth to the time it took to obtain said wealth. Intrigued and slightly astounded, he jokingly asked the man,…

I'd like to be the protagonist in more of your stories.

Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1B worth of stock this week

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The taxes (what, 20% capital gains?) seems an excellent deal for the ecosystem where he grew his company: a stable political system, strong asset protection enforced by strict laws, an educated workforce in a relatively unpolluted environment, etc.

I would much rather that Bezos be allowed to keep all of his capital gains but have appropriate antitrust enforcement step in and reduce Amazon's market power a bit. The recent upsurge of counterfeit products are evidence that Amazon is abusing its market power to the point of harming consumers.

What market does Amazon have a monopoly, and how are they abusing it or what prohibited practices did they use to establish such a monopoly?

It looks like they may have 44% of internet retail by public companies; and that's big, but it doesn't include private companies, and it doesn't fit my definition of a monopoly. It is certainly large enough that they should be scrutinized and attempts to increase share through prohibited practices should result in enforcement actions.

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