What are Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg up to? US billionaires sell $11 billion in stock (2024)

FAQs

Why are all the billionaires selling their stock? ›

"Billionaire CEOs like [Jeff] Bezos, [Mark] Zuckerberg, Jamie Dimon, and the Walton family are selling off massive amounts of their own stocks, and analysts think the CEOS may be bracing for an economic downturn," he said, adding, “An overheated stock market continues to climb to new heights as investors feed that ...

Bezos, 60, has been buying up real estate in his new home of South Florida, which conveniently has no state capital gains tax. Zuckerberg, 39, has been selling Meta stock to fund philanthropy. They don't want to sell too low, but they probably don't want to be perceived as pulling a Musk-like move.

Zuckerberg owns around 345 million Class A and B shares. With the stock falling by $52.12 on Thursday, the value of his stake sank by about $18 billion to $152 billion by the close of trading.

Why it matters: It makes sense even for billionaires to diversify out of having the overwhelming majority of their wealth in a single stock. Now's a great time to do just that. By the numbers: Between them, the three moguls have sold $9.3 billion of stock in less than a month, per Jonathan Moreland of Insider Insights.

The most logical reason Buffett and his investing crew pared down their Apple stake is to offset realized investment losses from Paramount Global and HP. Buffett's company is sitting on an estimated $119 billion in unrealized gains on its Apple stock.

Key Takeaways. Institutional investors are the majority owners of Microsoft, accounting for almost 70% of outstanding shares. Former CEO Steve Ballmer owns a 4% stake in Microsoft, more than its founder Bill Gates, who holds a 1.3% stake. Vanguard and Blackrock are the two largest Microsoft's institutional investors.

Vanguard owns the most shares of Meta Platforms (META). The ownership structure can impact the company's decision making, as large institutional investors may exert influence on the company's management and can also affect the company's stock price with their buying and selling patterns.

Typically, if CEOs are buying shares, it shows a confidence in the future growth potential of their company. Selling, however, implies that the shares are fully valued and it's time to get out while the getting is good.

A media representative for Walmart pointed to a 2015 statement from Walton Enterprises that said the Walton family expects to sell shares from time to time in order to help offset possible increases in its ownership percentage due to the company's stock buyback programs, and to help fund charitable contributions.

Who buy stocks when everyone is selling? ›

But there's one group of investors who charge in to buy when stocks are selling off: the corporate insiders. How do they do it? They have 2 key advantages over you and me that provide them the edge during uncertain times. If you follow their lead, you can have that edge too.

Zuckerberg primarily sells Meta shares to fund philanthropic initiatives, according to company spokesperson. He has pledged to give away 99% of his stake to charitable purposes. Marc Benioff, Zuckerberg's peer in the tech world, also sold shares nearly every day in the second half of 2023.

When asked for comment, Walmart referred Business Insider to a 2015 statement from Walton Enterprises announcing a plan to sell shares "from time to time" as a way to keep the family's ownership below 50% of the company and to fund charitable initiatives.

If everyone were to sell, there is no market in that stock (or other assets) anymore until sellers and buyers find a price they are willing to transact at. When a stock is falling it does not mean there are no buyers. The stock market works on the economic concepts of supply and demand.

Some conspiracy theorists suggest that there is something these billionaires know — something bad that is likely to happen in 2024, and this is why they are building the secret bunkers. By “something,” what most of these theorists mean is some sort of an apocalyptic event.