- Jeff Bezos’ move to Miami could save him over $600 million in taxes, per CNBC calculations.
- The billionaire moved from Seattle to be closer to his parents, calling it an “emotional decision.”
- But Florida has no capital gains tax, unlike Washington.
Jeff Bezos’ Miami move could be about to save him more than $600 million in taxes.
The Amazon founder is planning to sell 50 million shares in the e-commerce giant by January 31, 2025, according to recent company filings, which would raise a cool $8.6 billion as of Tuesday’s prices.
As Florida has no capital gains tax, CNBC calculated that Bezos would save around $600 billion in taxes compared to if he sold the shares while based in Seattle.
Washington state passed a new law imposing a 7% capital gains tax on sales of stocks or bonds worth more than $250,000, which went into effect in 2022.
Bezos announced in November that he would move to Miami after 29 years in Seattle, where he built Amazon into a $1.8 trillion-dollar company.
The billionaire said at the time that he was making the move to be closer to his parents and his rocket company Blue Origin’s base of operations at Cape Canaveral, describing it as an “emotional decision” in a post on Instagram.
Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez have purchased at least two properties in Miami’s flashy Indian Creek district, which is on a small private island in the city’s Biscayne Bay known as “Billionaire Bunker.”
Bezos sold off 12 million shares of Amazon stock in his first major sale since 2021 last week, and is steadily closing the wealth gap between himself and Elon Musk, the current richest person on the planet.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.