I found the SEC 144 form, unfortunately Jeff Bezo's sale is hidden in a mammoth 80k document. But I read it on www.freeedgar.com, so I assume it is real.. Here's the pertinent info of insiders dumping:
*SHRIRAM KAVITARK R AF 11/05/98 25,000 MORGAN STANLEY
*BEZOS JEFFREY P CE 11/05/98 180,000 SALOMON SMITH
*GUPTA ASHISH SH 11/05/98 15,000 BT ALEX
*ALBERG TOM A D 11/03/98 10,000 CITICORP NORTH
Since Bezos loves to brag about the door and wagon wheel office furniture Amazon is filled with, one has to wonder what he needs 24 million dollars for. After all, he was recently quoted as saying he will NEVER EVER sell a single share of Amazon stock.
I guess that was before Barnes and Noble came into their turf, and before he heard that B&N was buying Amazon's biggest distributer/supplier. Oh, and before he became one of the worlds richest certified liars. Hey, if he can lie about that, maybe he was lying to us about Amazon ever intending to turn a profit? :)
Nothing but downhill from here. The biz rags are going to be all over this like a cheap suit this weekend, and the "elephants" have nothing further to gain from this charade. Vinik may be a sleazebag, but he's a smart sleazebag and he knows when it is time to leave a party through the back door. |
