The Amazon founder and third-richest person in the world agreed to pay $68 million for an estate in Indian Creek, a man-made barrier island near Miami, Florida. (The Mega Agency)
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced that he will be leaving Seattle after almost 30 years and moving back to the warmth of Miami.
Bezos, 59, announced he was leaving the birthplace of the e-commerce giant in a heartfelt Instagram post late Thursday, accompanied by an old video clip of him giving a tour of the company’s first office in Seattle .
The billionaire businessman, who grew up in Miami, wrote that he was making the big move back to the Sunshine State to be closer to his parents, who recently moved back there.
Bezos also mentioned that the operations of Blue Origin – his space exploration company – are increasingly moving to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and that he and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez “love” Miami.
JEFF BEZOS BUYS $68 MILLION MANSION IN MIAMI’S EXCLUSIVE “BILLIONAIRE BUNKER”
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez at the world premiere of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on Tuesday, August 30, 2022. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Seattle has been my home since 1994 when I started Amazon from my garage,” Bezos wrote under the video clip.
“I have lived in Seattle longer than anywhere else and have so many great memories here. As exciting as the move is, it is an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart.”
SPACE RACE: VIRGIN GALACTIC, SPACEX, BLUE ORIGIN BACK
Jeff Bezos speaks about his flight into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard during a press conference on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The video clip shows Bezos touring the compact office space, which consists of three desks filled with paper and a large whiteboard. The office is so modest that an external wall-mounted cable cord is used to feed more power into the workspace.
“It doesn’t take long to tour the Amazon.com, Inc. offices,” Bezos says, smiling, as a dog barks in the background.
His father, who is filming the scene, was a little more enthusiastic, declaring, “We’re in the nerve center!”
Amazon would later dominate the e-commerce industry and become one of the largest companies in the world. According to Bloomberg, Bezos is the third richest man in the world with a net worth of around $156 billion.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
Bezos’ announcement comes just two weeks after he purchased a $79 million mansion on Florida’s exclusive “Billionaire Bunker” island. The site is next to a $68 million estate he purchased two months earlier.
The island is also home to supermodel Adriana Lima, real estate tycoon Jeff Soffer, singer and songwriter Julio Iglesias and car dealer mogul Norman Braman.
The move could also benefit Bezos financially if he sells Amazon shares, since Florida has no capital gains tax, unlike Washington. Washington recently introduced a 7% tax on the sale of financial assets.
There are no state income taxes in either Washington or Florida.