Miami’s low taxes contrast with Seattle, Washington, where Amazon is based and Mr Bezos has lived since 1994.
The State of Washington has a 7pc tax on capital gains, introduced in 2022, and officials have proposed a 1pc wealth tax on residents with over $250m in assets. It also has one of the highest retail sales taxes in the country, at 6.5pc.
In a post on Instagram, Mr Bezos said: “Seattle has been my home since 1994 when I started Amazon out of my garage.
“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.”
Mr Bezos, 59, will move back to Miami, along with fiancée Lauren Sanchez, 53. The Amazon founder lived in the city with his family as a teenager, attending high school in the city.
The billionaire’s rocket company, Blue Origin, is also relocating some of its operations to Cape Canaveral, the US rocket base in Florida.
Mr Bezos will follow his parents to Florida after they recently returned to the state. Mr Bezos’s adoptive father Mike and his mother Jackie spent $78m on two waterfront homes in Coral Gables, an upscale area in Miami, earlier this year.
Mr Bezos said: “I want to be close to my parents, and Lauren and I love Miami. Also, Blue Origin’s operations are increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral.”
The Amazon founder has bought two adjoining properties on Billionaire Bunker, located on Indian Creek, creating a vast waterfront estate. One is worth $79m and another for $68m.
A now-deleted listing for one of the mansions reads: “Expect to live royally at America’s Billionaire Bunker.”
The more expensive of the two mansions boasts of timeless “European glamour” across its seven bedrooms and 14 bathrooms. It features a wine cellar, a home cinema and a sauna, “stately grounds”, “soaring ceilings” and “endless art walls”.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
