Jeff Bezos Moves To Florida (fortune.com) 165
schwit1 shares a report from Fortune: After launching Amazon from a garage in Seattle in 1994, centibilllionaire Jeff Bezos is leaving the Pacific Northwest behind and setting sail for Florida. In an Instagram post, the world's third wealthiest person -- with a net worth estimated at $160 billion -- said he wanted to be closer to my parents after they recently moved back to Miami. "My parents have always been my biggest supporters," he posted to his Instagram account, adding that his spacefaring company Blue Origin is increasingly shifting operations to Cape Canaveral.
Florida also offers a financial benefit to the Amazon founder -- it doesn't charge capital gains tax which, for a man who's sold some $30 billion in stock since 2002, according to Bloomberg, can be quite substantial. [...] But Miami is not the only place where Bezos lives. In addition to his collection of luxury cars and private Gulfstream jets, Bezos owns multiple properties valued recently at a half-billion dollars. Bezos recently bought a large home in Florida, notes schwit1.
Florida also offers a financial benefit to the Amazon founder -- it doesn't charge capital gains tax which, for a man who's sold some $30 billion in stock since 2002, according to Bloomberg, can be quite substantial. [...] But Miami is not the only place where Bezos lives. In addition to his collection of luxury cars and private Gulfstream jets, Bezos owns multiple properties valued recently at a half-billion dollars. Bezos recently bought a large home in Florida, notes schwit1.
WA 7% tax (Score:5, Informative)
This year the state of Washington added a new 7% tax on investment sales over $250,000.
What's not to like about Florida? (Score:2, Informative)
- Hurricanes
- Tornadoes
- Sinkholes
- Mosquitoes
- Cockroaches
- Termites
- Alligators
- Heat
- Humidity
- Flooding
- Drunk drivers
- Traffic
- Tourists
- Broken down buildings
- Broken down cars
- Boring, flat topography
- Bible thumpers
- Florida Man
- Malaria
- West Nile Virus
- Brain-eating amoeba
Paying $68M for a mansion might help Bezos avoid some of these things... but the place is a dismal, festering pit of despair overall.
Re: What's not to like about Florida? (Score:2)
Best prepared for Global Warming (Score:2)
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C'mon Tidal Wave!!!
Re:What's not to like about Florida? (Score:4, Funny)
Florida Man was on the list.
Re:What's not to like about Florida? (Score:4, Insightful)
It tells me that right-wingers are so desperate for their fact free rhetoric of how bad California is that they haven't noticed that Seattle is not in California.
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America failing metric again (Score:4, Insightful)
centibilllionaire Jeff Bezos
A centibiliionaire is a decamillionaire. I suspect they meant a hectobillionaire, 4 orders of magnitude higher.
I guess Fortune is more of a rich people's gossip magazine than an economic magazine if they do that kind of egregious mistakes.
Re:America failing metric again (Score:4, Funny)
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Well, Forbes brought them. I wouldn't dare to comment on their evaluation of his wealth in libraries of Congress :)
Re: America failing metric again (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll assume from your username your are trolling, so I'll bite to spread the good word.
The units that went to the moon were metric, go and check it out. The Apollo guidance computer calculated in metric and displayed imperial. I would be much amused to find out there ever was a computer that calculated in imperial internally.
The Wright brothers did not invent the airplane, it had been invented long time before them already. What they did was accomplish the first controlled and sustained flight, which while cool, does not equate to the invention of the airplane.
The Internet, was it done in imperial though? There is nothing to measure but seconds and bits in the computer, both of which are pretty much as good in metric as they are in imperial. But surprisingly, any fast thing in the computer has always happened in 156 milliseconds, not in 5/32 seconds. Chip process nodes have been metric from the beginning. Electricity itself has been measured in metric from the beginning. I'll give you the rack width of 19" though.
The bomb, thermonuclear or not, I'll assure you, was not invented in imperial. Einstein was from Germany, Oppenheimer's education was from Germany, Teller was from Hungary. All of the tech/science boost after the war was done on fled European brains and education. Much like the Apollo guidance computer, whatever units these people would display, they would be thinking in metric. But more importantly here - thanks a million for the bomb, seriously. You did everybody a favour with that one, really. Isn't it just nice we are yet again on the edge of a nuclear war. Jolly, that.
To wrap this up - in general, you will find that all science and tech in the US is done in metric, while manufacturing and user interface are done in imperial because of historic inertia. Much like any desktop processor for some time now is risc-like inside, while presenting x86 through a translation layer on the outside. Smartphones are 99% arm(risc), Apple is all arm now. Microsoft is going yet again for an arm push, so far they have been as successful as the US has been shedding the imperial translation layer. But it's fun to munch popcorn to the flame war.
Re: America failing metric again (Score:4, Interesting)
The US is metric. They just didn't stop using customary units as well.
The inch is exactly 25.4mm. This is defined by law in the US. It no longer is the length of 3 barley corns.
Likewise, weights and other measures in the US customary system are defined in terms of their metric counterparts exactly.
There are laws that actually define the units exactly.
So the US is using metric units. It's just they choose to display everything in customary units, But internally everything is done in metric.
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To wrap this up - in general, you will find that all science and tech in the US is done in metric, while manufacturing and user interface are done in imperial because of historic inertia.
Erm, it's you guys who are always on the crusade and bringing it up.
(Looks to see the top level comment.) Yep, I was right.
Anyway, your supposedly devastating takedown is in fact our point. Do whatever you want in the specialty fields and the innards of computers, and let folks on the street do whatever they want.
Why not? Since everything is computerized and we all carry pocket computers now, the arguments in favor of forcing ordinary people in everyday life to use metric make less sense all the time, no
Re: America failing metric again (Score:2)
Plenty of mechanical computers ran in a base12, lot easier to calculate things in base12 when you have gear ratios. Metric is the oddball in computing, computers represent things in binary, not in base10. Using base12 would also make it easier to go to base60 for many commonly used fractions, so that 1/3 + 1/3 is not 0.66667 (rounding errors common in many conversions) but just .40
Re: America failing metric again (Score:2)
Not even wrong.
Pick any cad program out there. It has one base unit. Usually millimeters by default. Everything is computed in terms of that base unit. No multiplication or division by 10, 16, or sqrt(pi) except for display.
Changing units is just a recipe for introducing bugs. The base unit could just as easily be 1/127th of a rod and it would make zero difference.
This "factor of 10" bullshit is just that. It makes zero difference in technical computing and at best is good for calming the nerves of the math
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Every country does some things well and some things badly. There's plenty in America to be proud of. Customary/imperial units aren't one of them.
Re: America failing metric again (Score:4, Funny)
I'm happy to use metric distance, but you can have my degrees fahrenheit when you pry them out of my cold, dead hands. Or my hot, dead hands. At least using fahrenheit the difference will be immediately obvious.
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Beat me to it. I was going to say the same. Distance and length in metric is fine. Weights and volumes? Meh, either way, doesn't matter.
But Celsius for every day use is silly. Fahrenheit is much more sensible.
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Weights and volumes? Meh, either way, doesn't matter.
Volume doesn't matter? Volume is one of the absolute worst parts of Imperial! Ignoring the difference between Imperial and Customary, there are still multiple systems! cubic length units or volumes as weight of water, i.e. cubic stuff versus oz/pt/gallon/etc.
But generally it's not so much the individual units as conversions and calculations where imperial stinks.
But Celsius for every day use is silly. Fahrenheit is much more sensible.
Though even Americans
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Volumes: I can deal with gallons, liters, whatever. I was raised with gallons but if we switched to liters, I wouldn't care.
Same thing for weight, pounds vs kilograms? Shrug. Miles vs km? Shrug.
The only daily use we have for BTU is our BBQ grills. People understand that 44k BTU is hotter than 22k BTU. After that, they don't need to know.
As far as calories, absolutely no one is worried about the underlying formula for calories to energy. They just know that X many calories in a meal is too much and
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Oh, also, I forgot, my last house had gas for the stove and house furnace and my bill was in BTU. Just tossing that out there.
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Great response. Logical, factual, well evidenced. Can not be refuted.
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I'm happy to use metric distance, but you can have my degrees fahrenheit when you pry them out of my cold, dead hands.
Is the temperature of your hands 32C or 492Rankine? :)
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well I mixed up my units there!
Re: America failing metric again (Score:2)
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And they taught those dogs and monkeys in metric, too, so they could fly the rockets and safely return... oh wait.... Never mind.
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invented the internet
You think Switzerland uses imperial measurements?
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FL Headquarters? (Score:2, Troll)
So does Florida have an Amazon headquarters? I'm too lazy to google it. You know, since they're enforcing the whole return to office policy.
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Arguably, it's more relevant to ask whether blue origin has a footprint there since he handed the reign of amazon to focus on space ventures (at least that's what he said)
Considering Cap Canaveral is there, it's not as far fetched
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His "space company" is 23 years old. Its goal is to move all industry off Earth into space. In 23 years Blue Origin has made precisely ZERO attempts to launch a rocket to orbit. SpaceX founded 2 years later had the goal of 100 orbital launches this year and while it may fall a little short it still is more than any other company has launched in a year. Blue Origin seems to be kicking their planed December launch attempt to next summer. They dropped out of the planned Orbital Reef space station that thei
Taxes (Score:4, Insightful)
He's probably leaving over WA's new 7% capital gains tax, I'd wager.
Too bad everyone else who works for Amazon is still stuck with the "return to office" mandates. Doesn't look like there are any FL offices he'll be attending.
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If you have a number of properties I suppose you need to call one of them your primary residence. Doesn't mean you spend all of your time there. He'll have a nice place in Florida where some staff maintain the place for no one.
If the world is lucky enough, something unusual could happen:
https://bellosguardo.org/story... [bellosguardo.org]
(always heard some lady from New York owned it and never visited it, though it had a maintenance staff that kept it perfectly, amazing location and now story too)
Re:Taxes (Score:5, Informative)
He's probably leaving over WA's new 7% capital gains tax, I'd wager.
Or, it could be exactly the reasons he said, his elderly parents live in Florida and his space company launches from there. Seems pretty legit.
Too bad everyone else who works for Amazon is still stuck with the "return to office" mandates. Doesn't look like there are any FL offices he'll be attending.
He doesn't still work for Amazon, he stepped down as CEO in 2021. He's executive chairman so he's still involved, but I doubt he's involved in the day-to-day stuff anymore.
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That rat bastard! How dare he leave a high tax state to a low tax state! He has to pay his fair share in Washington! Because!
No one should be allowed to make any decisions that might lower their taxes!
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You think people shouldn't be allowed to leave a high tax state?
Or are you saying the taxes in every state should be the same?
I left California, very high tax state, for Florida, zero tax state. Yet my California roads were total shit to the point both our cars were trashed up from road debris flying up and pot holes while in Florida we haven't taken a single scratch and the roads are near perfect. How is that possible? Shouldn't my California roads be like glass and my Florida roads barely be better tha
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The USA is not managed. You just do not understand this country at all as I have told you before, I believe only last week.
This is 50 States in a legal Union. Each of the 50 has its own laws and ways of doing things. Just like Europe. Aren't you a Brit? Does it bother you to no longer be a part of a larger entity? Do you piss on the EU, too? They have a very similar structure to the US. You knew that, right? (You didn't).
Do you even understand what a state is in the sense of our 50? You don't.
If y
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Being near his elderly parents in their final years however is priceless.
Re: Taxes (Score:2)
Heâ(TM)s rich enough to just buy a house and commute on a private jet as necessary. Changing your domicile is work that is totally unnecessary at the scale someone like Bezos is living, he could claim his domicile in New York, these people really do not live in their houses for whatever would qualify as a requirement for primary residence taxation.
The parent thing is an excuse, just like Dell, HP, Oracle, Microsoft, Tesla and many other large companies and rich individuals recently moving out of the we
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Heâ(TM)s rich enough to just buy a house and commute on a private jet as necessary.
Private jet or not plane travel is still a lot less convenient than a short drive.
Changing your domicile is work that is totally unnecessary at the scale someone like Bezos is living, he could claim his domicile in New York, these people really do not live in their houses for whatever would qualify as a requirement for primary residence taxation.
The parent thing is an excuse, just like Dell, HP, Oracle, Microsoft, Tesla and many other large companies and rich individuals recently moving out of the west coast states to Florida and Texas.
It's where ever you spend the most time. If you could just buy a house in some low tax state and claim it as your primary then every wealthy person in the US would rent a small closet in the same lowest tax state.
If Bezos is going to be taxed as a Florida resident he's going to have to spend more time in Florida than Washington or any other state.
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Blofeld Moves to America's Flaccid Penis... (Score:2)
news at 11.
Okay, I'm missing some connection here (Score:2)
"In an Instagram post, the world's third wealthiest person -- with a net worth estimated at $160 billion -- said he wanted to be closer to my parents after they recently moved back to Miami."
Why does Jeff Bezos want to live closer to schwit1's parents?
As long as (Score:2)
As long as he doesn't move to my neighborhood we're good.
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Unlikely he will move to a slum so you're good.
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Ouch, LOL
$68M home in Florida? (Score:2)
This is large-ISH
Well... (Score:2)
Kbyyeeeeeee
I can see his logic (Score:2)
He just wants to have some peace and hopes that a Bezos won't be noticeable between all the bozos.
Tax avoidance (Score:2)
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That is the game they usually play then they talk about these things. What percentage of the population pays in percent of total amount of taxes paid. They never seem to talk about percentage in terms of people’s income. And then it gets muddied by stocks they get.
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You have no idea how taxes work. There is no way to avoid taxes anymore. Not legally. You can shift them around, delay them, and move out of a high tax state but in the end the only avoidance that works is moving and even then that won't always work.
You think stocks aren't taxed? Yes. When you sell, the difference between their value at issue and final sale price is income and taxed.
Where the fuck do you people get your tax knowledge from? Whatever your source is, throw it out.
The first time I had a h
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Fair share? Defined by what?
I've paid more in taxes in some years than most people will make in their entire lives. Was that fair? Does my wear n tear on the public roads and other services I use cost millions of dollars every year?
By fair share do you mean something other than, "he built a huge business from nothing and I want a piece of it because I've done nothing but quietly quit and smoke weed my whole life"?
Fuck your fair share. Your share is what you earned.
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When looking at that much wealth these people are the same:
person who slacks off their whole life
person who works hard and retires with 1 million
for the 1st one, Bezos earns more they do in their whole lives in 5 min, for the 2nd person Bezos earns more than they do their whole lives in 17 min https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Bezos has created more wealth, jobs, and advanced the economy that much more than both of them.
If Bezos didn't create Amazon, the economy would be many billions of dollars smaller.
If your slacker or your millionaire were never born, the impact on the economy would be trivial.
You look at only one side of the equation. Bezos was a fucking nobody loser before he built Amazon. He didn't inherit it. It wasn't a gift. The government didn't use eminent domain to give it to him. He didn't cheat anyone. He bui
And this move has nothing to do with taxes ??? (Score:2)
he's from FL (Score:2)
Bezos is originally from Florida. There are plenty of reasons to leave Seattle other than just money. For example, he says he wants to be near his parents in FL.
Maybe if it's a fixer-upper... (Score:2)
Give it a few years and that will just sound like complaining that a candy bar costs a whole quarter dollar now.
What interests me more here is whether this implies that Bezos will try running for President soon.
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whether this implies that Bezos will try running for President soon.
Who would be his constituency?
He appears to be a middle-of-the-road pro-business moderate Democrat. He's been a steady supporter of Patty Murray.
I don't see a billionaire winning the Democratic primary. Mike Bloomberg's candidacy went nowhere, and he had way more political experience than Bezos.
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Re: Blue state policies chase away tax base? (Score:3, Insightful)
No, the rich account for (for example) 1% of the population but considerably more than 1% of the tax base.
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Re: Blue state policies chase away tax base? (Score:2)
https://www.mercatus.org/resea... [mercatus.org]
Tldr is you're wrong. Nearly all tax revenue comes from the top half of the income bracket and the higher you go, the larger your actual "fair share" ends up being.
This would even be true with a flat tax rate. We don't have a flat tax rate, we have a progressive tax rate.
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Re: Blue state policies chase away tax base? (Score:2)
Nothing I wouldn't have figured out myself having observed the hundred or so people I graduated high school with: some people are more than capable of pulling their own weight, and then some, while others have difficulty manning the checkout register at the supermarket without stealing a few twenty dollar bills here and there. In a free country, this is reflected in their paychecks. As it should be.
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Re: Blue state policies chase away tax base? (Score:2)
I call dibs on your money too.
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What's the point in keeping them if they don't contribute anyway? You're welcome to keep the freeloaders and pay for them indirectly.
Re: Blue state policies chase away tax base? (Score:2)
See my post above. That guy probably paid more in taxes yesterday than you did all year.
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He's going to employ an army of people yo take care of his property. Will buy countless new vehicles and other shit from locals. Will continue spending and hiring up at his space company locally. And so on. He will bring a lot of new money and jobs to any place he goes.
He's a billionaire. It doesn't matter which McDonald's he eats at. It does matter where he's growing his businesses.
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Which was a great win for our country.
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It's too bad, though, that the poster to whom you were responding was unable to benefit from universal schooling mandates.
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Ever lived in Florida? If there wasn't a huge coastline with some beaches and artificial land built from drained swamps the Florida economy would look like Mississippi. What props it up is the incoming mass of dying retirees from the northern states. My guess is that Bezos will spend minimum time there, just enough to claim residency.
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You forgot about the millions of people from around the world that go there every year and spend their money.
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It's a Miami thing. From there the coke is shipped out to other major cities. The rest of Florida isn't any more heavily coked up than any other random places. But yes Miami is flooded with the stuff up to their gills.
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But deSantis is constantly trying to screw Disney right out of the state.
Well, he's got the clown shoes [reddit.com] for it, that's for sure.
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Yeah! If they didn't have stuff people liked, it would suck!
And like uh if Washington was uh bad then like people wouldn't like it and they'd leave but it's great so they don't!
It is hard to refute your "logic" and "evidence".
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That made absolutely no sense, but okay.
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It's called sarcasm and mockery.
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If you can afford a very cheap used car, you can buy a small sailboat. If you can afford a run of the mill RV, you can afford a yacht. If you an afford a very pricey top of the line RV, you can afford a fairly pricey yacht.
Of course, the kind of boats that people like Jeff Bezos buy are as far removed from the yachts of more plebeian people as his 3-bedroom Florida home is removed from the Florida hoi polloi.
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I know that RVs are more money than they're w
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If you can afford a very cheap used car, you can buy a small sailboat. If you can afford a run of the mill RV, you can afford a yacht. If you an afford a very pricey top of the line RV, you can afford a fairly pricey yacht.
It is cheap to buy a sailboat; any sailboat owner will tell you it is not cheap to own a sailboat due to the maintenance costs. A RV owner could talk you for hours what is required for them. As for a super yachts, it is estimated 10% of the purchase price should be reserved for annual maintenance. That does not include periodic overhauls of systems.
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Yeah fuck all those jobs his business creates.