Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon He left his Seattle garage in 1994 and left the city to move to Miami to be close to his parents and his space company Blue Origin.
Bezos announced the decision in an Instagram post Thursday night, which included a video of him touring one of Amazon’s first offices, the garage of his rented home in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington. It was there that Bezos launched Amazon as an online bookseller in 1995, before transforming the company into a retail and cloud computing giant.
“I’ve lived in Seattle longer than anywhere else and I have so many amazing memories here,” Bezos wrote. “As exciting as the move is, it is an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart.”
Amazon’s rapid growth has reshaped Seattle, particularly its South Lake Union area, where the company’s headquarters are located. Its rise helped turn Seattle into a tech hub, leading to an influx of well-paid tech workers but also higher rents and homelessness.
Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021 and passed the reins to former cloud chief Andy Jassy. Bezos became executive chairman of Amazon’s board of directors.
After stepping down as Amazon CEO, Bezos has devoted more time to personal ambitions such as Earth Fund and Blue Origin, as well as the Washington Post, which he acquired in 2013.
Their presence has extended beyond Seattle for some time now. Bezos recently spent $150 million on two adjoining properties in Miami’s Indian Creek Village, often called the “billionaire bunker.” He owns other properties around the world.
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