Jeff Bezos Relocating To Miami After Three Decades In Seattle, Could Save Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Taxes

In an Instagram post on Thursday night, Jeff Bezos announced that he and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez have plans to move their home from Seattle to Miami. 

As his family recently moved to Florida, Bezos wrote, “I want to be close to my parents, and Lauren and I love Miami.”

Sánchez commented on his post “Miami ♥️.”

Bezos further explained in his caption that his aerospace company, Blue Origin, is “increasingly shifting” its operations to Florida’s Cape Canaveral.

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

The caption accompanied 1994 footage of Amazon’s original headquarters in Bezos’ garage. In the video, the then-30-year-old says, “It doesn’t take long to tour the offices of Amazon.com, Inc.” The clip was filmed by Bezos’ adopted father, Miguel.

Miguel married Bezos’ mother, Jackie, when Bezos was a young child.

In addition to Bezos’ love of his family, this move to Miami could save him millions of dollars in taxes. Washington State recently passed a 7% tax on capital gains, which could cost wealthy individuals (like Bezos) millions. Under the new tax, Bezos would owe $70 million in state taxes for every $1 billion of Amazon stock he sells.

Florida, on the other hand, is one of the nine states that does not have a state capital gains taxes. Several other wealthy individuals recently moved to Florida because of the state’s generous tax laws.

Last year, Ken Griffin, the wealthiest man in Illinois, moved his Chicago-based hedge fund, along with his family, to Miami. Hedge fund tycoons Josh Harris and Dan Loeb also purchased mansions in Miami Beach in recent years.

In September, Bezos purchased a $79 million mansion on a private island in Biscayne Bay, Florida. Just months before, he had bought a “billionaire bunker” neighboring home there for $68 million. The two homes take up 1.8 acres.

Bezos and Sánchez started to date in 2018. Bezos proposed in May while the couple was on a yacht trip to the Cannes Film Festival.