Amazon to buy back $5 billion of shares

An Amazon logo is seen on a worker's jacket at an Amazon Fulfilment Center in Wroclaw, Poland December 3, 2015, during the busy holiday shopping season. Picture taken December 3, 2015. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc , the world's largest e-commerce company, said on Wednesday its board authorized a $5 billion share buyback program. The buyback replaces the $2 billion repurchase program approved in 2010. The company had $763 million remaining under the previous plan. The company's shares rose 1.5 percent to $498 in after-hours trading. (Reporting by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)