Seattle's Millionaire Boom — What Jeff Bezos Departure Didn't Predict

After founding e-commerce giant Amazon in his Seattle garage, Jeff Bezos is leaving the wet weather of Washington State and heading to sunny Miami. Many believed that Bezos's departure was due to high taxes and that a mass exodus would follow, but something else happened instead. 

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Since stepping down as CEO of Amazon almost three years ago, Bezos announced that he planned to move to Miami to be closer to his partner Lauren Sánchez and his parents. Online, Bezos wrote, "As exciting as the move is, it's an emotional decision for me." When his move to the Sunshine State was announced, many assumed it was due to the controversial new capital gains tax introduced in 2022 by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and state Sen. Noel Frame. Residents in Washington State are subject to a capital-gains tax equal to 7% of adjusted long-term capital gains with a deduction for the first $250,000. 

It's not a stretch to think that Bezos's move to Florida is tax-related, considering the state has no income or capital gains tax, benefiting wealthy individuals from states like Washington. Frame is also pushing for an additional wealth tax on residents with more than $250 million in assets. According to Frame, "The best way to maintain that quality of life is to tax those who have done well … take those funds and reinvest it back into our communities," adding, "That will continue to maintain that quality of life to attract more people to come to and remain in our state so they will put down roots, grow their businesses, build their families and hopefully do well, reinvest back into our community, and keep that virtuous cycle going." 

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Many initially assumed Bezos’s departure from Seattle might lead to an exodus of wealthy residents seeking more tax-friendly options. Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation commented, "When a tax is so heavily concentrated on a few wealthy, highly mobile individuals, that's what happens when just one person moves." He added, "And if the tax were ever adopted, others might follow."

But this was not the case. Frame rebuked the narrative that the wealthy are leaving the state due to taxes, resulting in a loss of revenue from a wealth tax. "Bezos is far from the only billionaire in Washington state." Frame doesn't see Bezos’s departure as a move to escape taxes but because of personal reasons like jobs and family. She noted, "When I look at his announcement, I'm kind of reminded that Jeff Bezos is a human being like everybody else," 

and pointed out that Bezos's departure reveals Seattle has actually seen a millionaire boom. 

A study by UK wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners found that Seattle has produced a large number of millionaires. In 2023, Seattle had 54,200 millionaires, with 3,700 added in the last year and 11 billionaires living in the city. Seattle is the seventh wealthiest city in the U.S., with roughly 1 in every 14 residents being a millionaire.   

So far, the number of wealthy residents filing and paying capital gains tax in 2023 and 2024 has remained steady, with the state bringing in $433 million in paid taxes and growing millionaires despite Bezos’s departure. 

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