Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos has once again reduced his stake in the e-commerce giant. According to a regulatory filing, Bezos sold over $3 billion worth of Amazon shares, bringing his total sales amount for the year to over $13 billion.

While the exact reasons for Bezos' stock sales are unclear, investors should know that he often uses this money to fund his ventures. These include his space exploration company Blue Origin and the $2 billion Bezos Day One Fund, which supports homeless families and early childhood education.

It is worth highlighting that despite these significant stock sales, Bezos remains a major shareholder in Amazon, holding approximately 10.8% of the company's shares. Although he stepped down as CEO in 2021, he continues to serve as the company's chairman.

Amazon's strong performance in the third quarter boosts Bezos' wealth

Bezos' latest sale transaction, involving more than 16 million shares, came after Amazon's stock price rose over 6% in Friday's trading session, hitting the $200 mark. Importantly, the increase in the share price was due to the company's third-quarter results, which exceeded analysts' expectations. AMZN's third-quarter performance was supported by strong growth in its cloud computing and advertising businesses.

Following AMZN's share price jump, Bezos' net worth increased by $42.8 billion year-over-year, making him the second-richest person in the world with a net worth of $220 billion. Bezos now trails only Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and surpasses Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Is AMZN a good stock to buy?

As for Wall Street, AMZN stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 45 Buys and one Hold over the past three months. At $235.62, the average Amazon price target implies an upside potential of 19.04%. The company's shares have gained 30.3% since the beginning of the year.

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