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MacKenzie Scott trims Amazon stake by 42%, shedding $12.5 billion in shares

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MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has cut her stake in the e-commerce giant by 42% over the past year, according to a Bloomberg News report citing a recent regulatory filing.

Scott now holds 81.1 million Amazon shares as of September 30, down by about 58 million shares from the previous year. Based on Tuesday’s closing price, the sale represents roughly $12.55 billion in stock.

The filing also revealed that Bezos still beneficially owns more than 964 million Amazon shares, including 81.1 million over which he has sole voting authority. Amazon did not respond to requests for comment, and Reuters was unable to independently verify the filing.

Scott received her Amazon holdings in 2019 as part of her divorce settlement, amounting to a 4% stake valued at $36 billion at the time. Since then, she has become one of the world’s most active philanthropists, donating more than $19.25 billion to over 2,450 non-profit organizations through her charitable platform, Yield Giving.

Her large-scale giving efforts have focused on education, gender equality, racial justice, and community-based initiatives, often made without conditions or publicity — a sharp contrast to the structured foundations of many billionaires.

Amazon Shares Drop on Weak Cloud Growth and Disappointing Forecast REWRITING TEXT:

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Amazon.com shares declined by as much as 5% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported weaker-than-expected cloud computing growth and a lower sales forecast for the first quarter of 2025. The decline erased about $90 billion in market value before stabilizing at a 4.2% drop.

Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky indicated that capital expenditure for 2025 would remain consistent with last year’s fourth-quarter spending of $26.3 billion, driven primarily by investments in artificial intelligence (AI) software development.

The company forecast revenue for the first quarter in the range of $151 billion to $155 billion, falling short of analysts’ average estimate of $158 billion. This gap persists even after adjusting for a $2 billion negative impact from the absence of a Leap Day.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) posted a 19% revenue increase to $28.79 billion, narrowly missing analysts’ expectations of $28.87 billion. CEO Andy Jassy attributed the slower AWS growth to inconsistent chip supplies from third-party partners, which constrained capacity.

Investor impatience with Big Tech’s extensive capital spending on AI has grown. Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, noted that slowing growth across Amazon’s cloud and retail segments is concerning, especially as competitors such as China’s DeepSeek gain ground in the AI space.

Amazon’s AI investments were showcased at its annual AWS conference in December, where the company introduced new AI models. Its Alexa generative AI voice service is also slated for release later this month after being delayed due to quality concerns.

The company’s retail business provided a cushion, with online sales growing 7% to $75.56 billion, exceeding estimates of $74.55 billion. Advertising sales rose 18% to $17.3 billion, just shy of the expected $17.4 billion.

Amazon forecast an operating profit of $14 billion to $18 billion for the first quarter, missing the average estimate of $18.35 billion. Despite the challenges, Amazon’s fourth-quarter revenue of $187.8 billion slightly surpassed expectations of $187.30 billion. The company also nearly doubled its net income to $20 billion, reporting earnings of $1.86 per share compared to estimates of $1.49 per share.