Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos has sold about 1 million of his shares in the e-commerce company so far in August, according to multiple filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

What Happened: The shares sold by Bezos were worth more than $3 billion, priced between $3,102.85 and $3,183.26 a piece, at the time of sale.

The SEC filings said the transactions were “effected pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted by the reporting person.”

The world’s richest person previously shed about $4.1 billion worth of Amazon shares between January and February this year.

Why It Matters: Bezos’s total sale of more than $7 billion worth of shares of the e-commerce giant so far this year is already significantly higher than last year’s total sale of $2.8 billion, according to CNBC, which earlier reported the news.

The billionaire has stated he intends to sell about $1 billion worth of shares each year to fund his space exploration company Blue Origin, which rivals Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Bezos has also engaged in philanthropy over the years, including launching “Day One Fund,” an initiative to help homeless families and increase education access through preschools.

The Amazon CEO’s former wife Mackenzie Scott announced late last month she had donated about $1.7 billion of the money she got as part of a divorce settlement to a host of charities.

Price Action: Amazon shares closed 2.1% higher at $3,205.03 on Wednesday, and traded about 0.4% lower in the after-hours session.

Photo courtesy: Steve Jurvetson on Flickr

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