Amazon Board Approves 20-For-1 Stock Split, $10 Billion Buyback

Amazon's board has approved the company's first stock split in more than two decades. GeekWire reports: Subject to shareholder approval, the 20-for-1 split would revalue Amazon's individual shares, aiming to make them more affordable for individual investors, recognizing the long-term increase in the company's share price. The change will take effect in June if shareholders approve the split at the company's annual meeting in May. Amazon's board also authorized a buyback of up to $10 billion of its common stock. The new authorization replaces a prior $5 billion buyback plan, approved in 2016. Amazon bought back $2.12 billion of its shares under that prior plan. The company has split its stock three times before, all of them in the late 1990s, prior to the dot-com bust: a 2-for-1 split in June 1998; a 3-for-1 split in January 1999; and a 2-for-1 split in September 1999. Amazon's share price has risen from $62.44 after the last split to close at $2,785.58 on Wednesday.

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