Jeff Bezos Is Leaving Seattle After Three Decades and Moving to Miami: ‘It’s an Emotional Decision for Me’

Jeff Bezos is relocating to Miami, moving away from Seattle — which has been his home since he founded Amazon in 1994 out of his garage.

Bezos announced the decision to move to Miami in an Instagram post Thursday. He explained that his parents (who “have always been my biggest supporters”) recently moved back to Miami, where the family had previously lived and where Bezos attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School (class of 1982).

“I want to be close to my parents, and Lauren and I love Miami,” Bezos wrote in the post, referring to fiancée Lauren Sánchez. He also said that his aerospace company, Blue Origin, is increasingly shifting operations to Cape Canaveral in Florida, which was another key factor for the decision.

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

This summer, Bezos paid a reported $68 million for a 2.75-acre waterfront estate on Miami Beach’s Indian Creek Island, an artificial barrier island referred to as the “Billionaire Bunker,” and last month spent $79 million on a second estate situated on 1.8 acres next door. The mogul also owns properties in Washington, D.C., Beverly Hills, Manhattan, Maui and Seattle, plus a 300,000-acre ranch in Texas.

Bezos is no longer the CEO of Amazon, having turned the role over to key lieutenant Andy Jassy in 2021. But Bezos remains involved in key decisions — both big and small — in the role of executive chair. He retains just under 10% ownership of Amazon.

The 59-year-old Bezos currently has a net worth of around $161 billion, making him the third-richest person in the world (after Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault), per Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. Last year, Bezos pledged to donate most of his wealth to charitable causes within his lifetime. As part of that, he established the Bezos Earth Fund, aimed at fighting climate change, with $10 billion in total grants targeted to be disbursed by 2030. In addition to Blue Origin, Bezos owns the Washington Post.

Pictured above: Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 12, 2023, in Beverly Hills.