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
TOP NEWS
Bumble’s CEO steps down
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is stepping down as CEO of the dating app. Slack CEO Lidiane Jones will now run the company, as Wolfe Herd transitions to executive chair. Wolfe Herd tells Fortune’s Emma Hinchliffe that she now wants to tackle the loneliness epidemic and internet toxicity: “I’m really looking at the future of love and connection,” she says. Fortune
A new CFO at Disney
The Walt Disney Company has a new chief financial officer: Hugh Johnston, vice chairman and CFO at PepsiCo. Disney CEO Bob Iger called Johnston “one of the best CFOs in America.” Disney is gearing up for a new battle with Trian Fund Management’s Nelson Peltz, and Johnston helped PepsiCo fight off the activist investor during his time at the consumer goods giant. Bloomberg
Hybrid work discipline
Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, an expert on remote work, thinks the debate on working from home is “practically” settled, as employees continue to stay away from the office. Bloom argues that having employees switch between time in groups and time alone—so, hybrid work—is best for fostering creativity. But that requires “discipline,” he says: If a company agrees that employees need to come in on a given day, everyone needs to come in. Fortune
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
TikTok is killing its $2 billion Creator Fund that paid viral stars pennies for hit short videos by Alexandra Sternlicht
Wall Street titans Larry Fink and Jamie Dimon say ‘rising fear and less hope’ are pushing the chances of a recession higher by Chloe Taylor
LVMH strikes sunglasses deal targeting entry-level shoppers as luxury spending slows down by Prarthana Prakash
Taylor Swift’s latest master stroke is a blockbuster re-recording of her breakthrough pop album—and it could reshape the music industry as we know it by Alicia Adamczyk
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
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