By Robert Frank—
CNBC
The sale of shares carried out by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, last week for a value of 2,000 million dollars brought him an added advantage:
he will not pay state taxes.
Bezos announced at the end of last year on the social network Instagram that he was leaving Seattle (Washington) after almost 30 years to move to Miami (Florida).
He assured that the move was to be closer to his parents and his rocket launches at Blue Origin.
The timing also suggested another reason: taxes.
Bezos and his partner, Lauren Sánchez, in Miami, in 2023.Getty Images
In 2022, Washington state imposed a new 7% capital gains tax on sales of stocks or bonds over $250,000.
Without a personal income tax, the new levy marked the first time Bezos would face state taxes on his stock sales.
Since 1998, Bezos has sold billions of dollars in Amazon stock almost every year for more than two decades to fund his philanthropy, his space company Blue Origin and, most recently, his $500 million megayacht and a growing collection of mansions bought with his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez.
[Why billionaire Jeff Bezos decided to say goodbye to Seattle and move to Miami]
In 2022, when the tax went into effect, Bezos stopped selling.
He didn't get rid of any Amazon shares in 2022 or 2023, giving away only $200 million in shares at the end of 2023.
After his move to Miami, Bezos made up for lost time.
Last week a filing with federal authorities revealed that the millionaire launched a pre-programmed stock sale plan
to get rid of 50 million
by January 31, 2025. At today's price, that would exceed $8.7 billion.
Florida has no state income or capital gains tax.
So in last week's $2 billion sale, he saved $140 million that he would have paid to the state of Washington.
On the total sale of 50 million shares over the next year, you will save at least 610 million.
And that's assuming Amazon shares stay flat.
If they continue to rise, the value of your shares—and your tax savings—will be even greater.
In other words, he has more than paid for his 417-foot yacht, Koru, just
with what he has saved in taxes in Florida.
Bezos bought two mansions in Indian Creek (Miami) for 147 million and, apparently, is looking at three other properties on that island, which also has Tom Brady and Carl Icahn as neighbors.
Miami real estate agents say that Bezos is likely to demolish the houses and build a new one, at a total cost of more than $200 million.