Jeff Bezos sold a total of 50 million Amazon shares in the past two weeks, netting him about $8.5 billion in cash, according to securities filings.
The 60-year-old e-commerce giant sold more than 14 million Amazon shares on Tuesday for about $2.37 billion, after selling 36 million shares of Amazon stock in three transactions last week, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. filing previously reported CNBC.
The four sales were carried out under a pre-arranged trading plan that Bezos unveiled earlier this month, allowing him to sell up to 50 million Amazon shares by January 31, 2025.
The selloff marks the first time Bezos has sold his stake in the e-commerce giant since May 2021, when he stepped down as Amazon’s CEO and assumed the sole role of chairman. Become.
It’s unclear what Bezos plans to do with his vast wealth, which will receive a tax break thanks to his recent move from Seattle to Miami.
Bezos, founder of the space company Blue Origin and owner of the Washington Post, announced in November that he would be leaving his longtime home of Seattle, helping the world’s second-richest person avoid higher tariffs. This prompted a series of questions about whether he was trying to do so.
Washington state imposed a 7% tax on capital gains on stocks and bonds over $250,000 in 2022, but Florida has no such tax.
If Bezos had stayed in the Emerald City, he would have built a multimillion-dollar complex there less than 10 miles from Amazon’s Seattle headquarters — $595 million to satisfy capital gains taxes. I would have had to spit it out.
This number is higher than the $500 million Bezos spent on his superyacht Col. The yacht has a helicopter landing pad, a swimming pool and a mermaid resembling his fiancée Lauren Sanchez on the bow.
In addition to the capital gains tax break, Mr. Bezos is also poised to save on property taxes because he is based on Miami’s posh Indian Creek Island, where he is also known as the “Billionaire Banker.”
The Sunshine State’s property tax rate is 0.89%, which is lower than Washington State’s property tax rate of 0.98%. According to Rocket Mortgage.
Bezos bought a seven-bedroom, 14-bathroom home in Miami in October for $79 million. Two months later, he bought the three-bedroom, three-bathroom house next door for $68 million.
Bezos reportedly bulldozed the $68 million property after snapping up two of just 40 waterfront properties reportedly on the ultra-luxury island. They are reportedly planning to build a single mega-mansion with an adjacent eight-figure enclave.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether he plans to demolish his $79 million, 19,064-square-foot home, but he will certainly pay less in property taxes than his previous main residence in Seattle. A similar demolition project followed the construction of a 5.3-acre property in Washington state’s affluent Medina neighborhood.
In Washington state, wealthy residents with assets of $2,193,000 or more are required to pay an inheritance tax of 10% to 20% upon death.
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If Bezos were to keep Seattle as his primary residence and maintain his current net worth, he would have to forgo $38.8 billion in inheritance taxes upon his death.
On the other hand, Florida does not impose a resident inheritance tax regardless of the size of assets.
Representatives for Mr. Bezos did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
