Bezos: Hello $unshine

Seattle-to-Miami shift saves megamillions in taxes

Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ recent move to Miami will help him save more than $600 million in taxes as he sells more than 50 million shares of Amazon stock over the next year.

Bezos — the secondrichest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — ditched his longtime digs in Seattle last year for a glittering estate on the ultra-exclusive island Indian Creek, which is also known as “Billionaire Bunker.”

Aside from advantages like better weather and proximity to his parents and rocket launches at his Blue Origin space company, the move came with another major perk: no state income or capitalgains taxes.

Last week, Bezos unloaded 12 million shares of Amazon worth roughly $2 billion, saving him about $140 million in capitalgains taxes that he would have had to dish out to Washington state, CNBC reported.

Washington imposed the tax on sales of stocks or bonds upward of $250,000 in 2022. By Jan. 31, 2025, 60-yearold Bezos has plans to sell 50 million shares of the e-commerce giant, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

At today’s price, that would total over $8.7 billion, according to CNBC’s calculations, meaning that on his entire stock sale, Bezos is poised to save at least $610 million.

The nine-figure sum assumes Amazon’s share price remains flat.

The stock has increased more than 13% this year.

Should Amazon’s stock continue to rise, the value of Bezos’ share will increase along with his tax savings.

By 2025, Bezos’ tax savings alone cover the cost of Koru — the $500 million superyacht he purchased last year.

The yacht is equipped with a helicopter landing pad and swimming pool spanned across three decks.

Since Bezos announced his Miami move, onlookers have debated whether he was looking to skirt paying higher taxes.

Property taxes in the Sunshine State are 0.89% — less than Washington’s real-estate tax rate of 0.98%, according to Rocket Mortgage.

Bezos had lived in Washington for the past 30 years in a home less than 10 miles from Amazon’s Seattle headquarters.