Good morning.
A quick news quiz: Why is Jeff Bezos moving from Washington state to Florida?
Before you answer, here’s some context. In March, the Washington Supreme Court upheld the state’s 7% tax on capital gains above $250,000. And where does Bezos's roughly $160 billion fortune currently reside? Mostly in unrealized capital gains in Amazon stock. Florida doesn’t tax capital gains. And by the way, Washington also has an estate tax that goes from 10% to 20% on estates over $2.19 million. Florida does not. The Bezos estate's estimated savings: $32 billion.
Back to the quiz. In discussing the move, Bezos said:
1. He loves Miami;
2. He wants to be closer to his parents, who recently moved there; and
3. The operations of Blue Origin are “increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral."
And taxes? No mention.
Now let’s be clear, there is nothing wrong with Bezos changing states to reduce his taxes. Lots of people do it. I live in Greenwich, Conn., and a high percentage of my neighbors also “live” in Florida these days to avoid this state’s 12% tax on estates over $12.92 million. If you are a hedge fund multi-millionaire or billionaire, you don’t want to die in Connecticut or Washington.
But in a world where trust is in short supply, wouldn’t it be better if Bezos simply acknowledged that tax is a factor? I think so. You can read more here. Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
