Bezos to leave Seattle for Miami

(News CNN) — Jeff Bezos is leaving the city where it all began for him.

The Amazon founder announced on Instagram that he’s relocating from Seattle, where he has lived since 1994, to Miami. He explained that his parents recently moved back to Florida, where he and his family lived when he was younger, and that he wants to be closer to them.

“I’ve lived in Seattle longer than I’ve lived anywhere else and have so many amazing memories here,” Bezos wrote. “As exciting as the move is, it’s an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart.”

The retro video attached to the Instagram post shows Bezos touring the first Amazon “office,” which is a garage, in Bellevue, Washington. The three-bedroom house sold a few years ago for $1.5 million.

Amazon thrived in the state and has become one of the biggest companies in the world. The company’s headquarters are in nearby Seattle, where it has more than 55,000 employees.

Another factor, Bezos said, was his space exploration company Blue Origin. Its “operations are increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral,” which is about three hours north of Miami.

“I want to be close to my parents, and Lauren and I love Miami,” Bezos added, noting his fiancée Lauren Sánchez, who works closely with him on philanthropic projects.

“We’re really great teammates, and we also have a lot of fun together,” Sánchez told CNN in November 2022.

The couple also recently bought neighboring mansions for a combined $144 million in Biscayne Bay, Bloomberg reported. The area is referred to as “Billionaire Bunker” and includes residents like investor Carl Icahn and NFL star Tom Brady.

Florida does not have state capital gains taxes, a plus for Bezos who periodically sells shares of Amazon.