Hi there! Have you ever wondered exactly who owns Amazon‘s stock? As one of the world‘s most valuable companies, ownership is highly sought after. But barrier-like prices restrict most everyday investors like you and me.
Let‘s unravel the mystery of who exactly owns a piece of this e-commerce giant, from the legendary founder Jeff Bezos to Wall Street‘s elite institutions.
Jeff Bezos Still Rules 25+ Years After Founding Amazon
Chances are you already know about Jeff Bezos, the famous founder behind Amazon‘s inception within a suburban Seattle garage back in 1994. Armed with a bold vision and technical skills from a career in computer science, Bezos drove Amazon‘s early growth through sheer determination.
He incorporated the company on July 5, 1994 after quitting a lucrative hedge fund job in New York City. Bezos packed orders himself in those early days alongside his first hires, fulfilling his dream of an "everything store" online. His roots in this garage startup meant Bezos retained significant ownership even as Amazon grew into a global behemoth.
Let‘s look at the numbers:
Jeff Bezos‘ ownership percentage: 9.73%
Total Amazon shares: Around 992 million
Current value: Over $87 billion
That‘s right – despite stepping down from the CEO role in 2021, Bezos still maintains nearly 10% ownership in the company he founded out of notebooks and office supplies decades ago.
This stake translates to tremendous influence over Amazon‘s future direction, even as Andy Jassy now handles day-to-day operations as CEO. Bezos remains engaged as the Executive Chair on Amazon’s board, in addition to pursuing his other ventures like space company Blue Origin.
But his Amazon ownership also stems from those earliest days in 1994 and 1995 working 18 hour days to will the company into existence. That persistence resulted in this empire – and his enduring status as the richest or second richest person alive since 2017.
Now let‘s look at the next largest individual owner…
MacKenzie Scott – From Bezos‘ Partner to One of World‘s Richest Women
Jeff Bezos didn‘t build Amazon alone in those risk-filled early days. His wife at the time MacKenzie Tuttle, later known as MacKenzie Bezos then MacKenzie Scott, was one of his first employees in 1994. Her role negotiating Amazon‘s freight contracts and designing the first unique logo exemplified the all-hands-on-deck style of the founding team.
The couple met at the hedge fund D.E. Shaw in New York City, where Bezos had worked as a senior vice president. They married less than a year later in 1993, forming a close partnership marked by common drives toward excellence.
Scott continued supporting Amazon and raising their children as the company boomed through the late 1990s dot-com bubble. Her passion for writing even resulted in acclaimed novels like The Testing of Luther Albright (2005) exploring the challenges of balancing creative work with family life.
Ultimately, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos divorced in 2019 after 25 years of marriage in what was called the "world‘s most expensive" separation. Yet it remained amicable, setting the stage for Scott’s second act.
Here‘s the ownership breakdown:
| Name | Amazon Ownership % | Total Shares | Approx. Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Bezos | 9.73% | Around 992 million | $87.6 billion |
| MacKenzie Scott | 4% | Around 406 million | $35.8 billion |
Per the divorce settlement, Scott received 4% of Bezos‘ Amazon stake. This translated to 25% of the couple‘s total shares worth about $35.6 billion at the time.
Almost overnight, Scott was vaulted into the upper echelons of the world‘s wealthiest women. Her net worth now totals over $43 billion, allowing her to focus on offering "no strings" donations to overlooked causes.
As you can see, the 3 largest individual Amazon shareholders are all insiders connected to the company‘s earliest days back in 1994. Now let‘s shift gears to institutional ownership…
Institutional Investors – The Hidden Owners of Amazon Stock
While high-profile insiders like Bezos capture the headlines, a silent majority of institutions own around 60% of outstanding Amazon shares. These include mutual funds, hedge funds, pensions, endowments, and other large asset managers investing on behalf of clients.
You likely won‘t spot these names on wealth ranking lists or in celebrity news coverage of Amazon. But institutional shareholders do wield enormous collective influence due to their dominant equity positions.
Let‘s analyze the top 5 institutional owners of Amazon:
| Institution | Ownership % | Shares Owned | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Group | 6.88% | 701 million | $61.9 billion |
| BlackRock Inc. | 5.71% | 582 million | $51.4 billion |
| State Street Corp | 3.23% | 329 million | $29.1 billion |
| FMR LLC | 2.96% | 302 million | $26.7 billion |
| T. Rowe Price Associates | 2.77% | 282 million | $24.9 billion |
You‘ll notice iconic investment managers like Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price on this list. Through funds offered to millions of clients, they control billions worth of Amazon stock.
Most don‘t realize these institutions essentially own the bulk of all public companies – not just Amazon. For instance, data shows institutional investors own over 80% of the total market value across the S&P 500 index.
But why? Let‘s discuss two reasons:
1. High Share Prices Lock Out Regular Investors
Amazon went public on May 15, 1997 at a share price of just $18. By late 2021, shares had ballooned to nearly $3,700 each before the company approved a long-awaited 20-for-1 stock split.
That towering share price meant an individual investor would need roughly $3,700 to buy a single share of Amazon last year. Out of reach for most retail market participants!
Institutions like mutual funds and pensions solve this through collective investing. By pooling money across clients, they can invest at scale in Amazon while allowing individuals indirect access through fund ownership.
The recent stock split makes owning whole shares more feasible for individuals. But institutions continue dominating based on existing equity built up over decades.
2. Founder-CEOs Retain Large Stakes
As we saw with Jeff Bezos, founder-CEOs often keep large portions of equity in the companies they created. Their ownership naturally balloons if they remain integral to the business like Bezos.
While Bezos stepped down from leading Amazon, other prominent founders like Mark Zuckerberg (13% of Meta) and Jack Dorsey (2.25% of Block, Inc.) continue running their companies as majority stakeholders.
Evan Spiegel of Snap Inc. also owns over 18% of his still-young social media company.
This trend consolidates voting power and influence with founders over public shareholders. While external investors gain more sway as companies mature, visionary leaders retaining ownership perpetuates the prominence of insider influence.
Now that we‘ve covered the major owners, let‘s discuss…
What This Concentration of Amazon Ownership Means
Given Amazon‘s $1 trillion+ market capitalization, significant ownership requires billions in net worth. We saw how Jeff Bezos maintains outsized influence from shares accumulated since incorporating Amazon in his garage in 1994.
And institutions like Vanguard and BlackRock control enormous equity stakes due to the inaccessibility of owning whole Amazon shares for many individual investors historically.
This data spotlights a general truth – despite having over 1.5 million shareholders, Amazon‘s ownership remains highly centralized even today. Speculation will persist around Jeff Bezos remaining the puppet master despite stepping down as CEO.
However, significant institutional ownership does counterbalance Bezos and other insiders to degree. If a large bloc of institutional shareholders united around an issue, they could override management decisions in theory.
While unlikely, shareholder revolts have stripped founders of influence before. Firms like BlackRock have pushed socially-driven shareholder resolutions. So the potential exists, even if outright control seems cemented at Amazon‘s highest levels.
The takeaway? Outsized ownership means greater control – but not complete invincibility from public influence.
So while you and I likely won‘t ever attain a 2%+ ownership stake in Amazon, take comfort from knowing foundations exist for banding investor voices together. Ownership may concentrate power, but history shows the potential to wrest it back.
Now go enjoy your newest pair of shoes from Amazon with a clearer picture of who exactly is profiting behind that patented smile logo!
