Jeff Bezos Leaving Seattle, Moving To Red State!

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced via Instagram that he will move from Seattle to Miami, Florida.

The news comes as a shock to many as Bezos has called Seattle home for more than 30 years.

Bezos claims that the move is due to wanting to spend more time with his parents, who are also moving to Florida.

Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon out of his Seattle garage in 1994 and plowed billions of dollars into transforming the city into a tech boomtown, said that he was leaving his home of three decades and moving to Miami.https://t.co/IGViQTVuao

— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 3, 2023

It’s no secret either that Florida has much lower taxes compared to Seattle.

Read this post that explains the benefits for Bezos to move:

Jeff Bezos says he’s moving to Florida to be closer to his parents. Another reason — taxes. Washington State has a new 7% tax on capital gains so he will owe $70 million in state taxes for every $1 billion of Amazon stock he sells. And he sells a lot. pic.twitter.com/G4gjzze200

— Robert Frank (@robtfrank) November 3, 2023

CNN Business shares more on the story:

The Amazon founder announced on Instagram that he’s relocating from Seattle, where he has lived since 1994, to Miami. He explained that his parents recently moved back to Florida, where he and his family lived when he was younger, and that he wants to be closer to them.

“I’ve lived in Seattle longer than I’ve lived anywhere else and have so many amazing memories here,” Bezos wrote. “As exciting as the move is, it’s an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart.”

The retro video attached to the Instagram post shows Bezos touring the first Amazon “office,” which is a garage, in Bellevue, Washington. The three-bedroom house sold a few years ago for $1.5 million.

Amazon thrived in the state and has become one of the biggest companies in the world. The company’s headquarters are in nearby Seattle, where it has more than 55,000 employees.

I don’t doubt that Seattle officials are kicking themselves right about now.

There goes millions of dollars of tax revenue!

Some have taken to social media to poke fun at the billionaire:

Jeff Bezos is moving to Miami to complete his transformation into Pitbull 2.0 pic.twitter.com/fNWTkQdGeW

— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) November 3, 2023

Even Jeff Bezos is getting the hell out of Washington state. https://t.co/IjD1gKrDUP

— Beth Dutton (@1BethDutton) November 3, 2023

Fox Business covers more on the move:

Bezos’ announcement comes just two weeks after he purchased a $79 million mansion in Florida’s exclusive “Billionaire Bunker” island. The site is next door to a $68 million estate he scooped up two months earlier.

The island is also home to supermodel Adriana Lima, property magnate Jeff Soffer, singer-songwriter Julio Iglesias and car dealership mogul Norman Braman.

The move may also benefit Bezos financially if he sells Amazon shares, since Florida, unlike Washington, does not have a capital gains tax. Washington recently enacted the 7% tax on the sale of financial assets.

Neither Washington nor Florida has state income taxes.