Amazon Confirms SEC Probe

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the timing of a stock sale by Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, the company confirmed. Spokesman Bill Curry said Bezos has responded to the SEC’s request for information about the sale of 800,000 shares of stock worth roughly $12 million. He declined to say what information the commission was seeking. Bezos filed documents Feb. 2 and Feb. 5 saying he intended to sell the stock. On Feb. 6, a Lehman Bros. analyst released a research report that questioned whether the company would have enough cash to continue operating through 2001. Amazon executives received an advance copy of the report. Curry said the firm did not know when the Lehman report would be released. Shares in Amazon closed up 41 cents at $16.09 on Nasdaq.