Meta Description: Amazon founder and tech titan Jeff Bezos saved nearly $1 billion in state taxes by relocating from Seattle to his billionaire bunker in Florida.
For most people, deciding where to live comes down to factors like affordability and access to employment. Then again, billionaires like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos aren't most people. Although Bezos has the money to live wherever he wants, many people suspect finances played a role in his decision to relocate to the infamous "billionaire bunker" in 2024. Keep reading to learn why that move may have saved Jeff Bezos almost $1 billion in taxes.
Like many billionaires, Jeff Bezos' life has become the subject of intense public speculation. Almost every move Bezos makes becomes news and his announcement in late 2023 that he would relocate to Florida is no exception. Bezos announced the move on his Instagram page, listing several motivating factors, including being closer to his parents and his fledgling aerospace company, Blue Origin.
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Bezos moved from Seattle, where he had lived for many years, to Indian Creek Village in early 2024. Indian Creek Village is an exclusive community outside of Miami known as the "billionaire bunker." Business Insider describes this as more than just a swanky gated community. It is its own city, with only 89 residents and a police department whose sole job is keeping nonresidents out.
Indian Creek Village is a private island and the only way in is to cross a bridge patrolled by its Police Department. The same department has a fleet of boats and aggressively patrols the surrounding waters. Even Before Bezos moved in, Indian Creek Village was home to an ultraexclusive crowd that included Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump and Carl Icahn. It's even rumored that the Emir of Qatar has a place there.
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This explains why most of the media attention revolved around the sheer size of Bezos' acquisitions. He didn't just buy one place on the island; he bought three. According to an article in the Robb Report, Bezos spent almost $250 million on them. Ownership of the three properties gives Bezos control over 7.5% of Indian Creek Village's 40 residences.
It's not hard to imagine why Indian Creek Village's combination of exclusivity and privacy would appeal to someone like Jeff Bezos. However, astute financial observers began to speculate on another reason for Bezos' abrupt move from Washington to Florida. Forbes magazine has reported that Bezos has sold nearly $13.6 billion in Amazon stock since moving to Indian Creek Village.
Washington’s capital gains tax law taxes capital gains over $250,000 at 7%. Florida, by contrast, doesn't tax income or capital gains. Forbes estimates Bezos would have owed about $954 million to the state of Washington if he had still been living in Seattle when he sold his Amazon stock. Looking at it that way, spending $250 million on property saved Jeff Bezos $700 million.
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