How Google founders 'dumping' California 'looks similar' to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos leaving the city he called 'his home' for 30 years

It's almost official that Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have cut ties with California. The two Google Guys have reportedly said Bye to California; joining the billionaires who have left the state, shifting businesses and houses.

Page is worth around $270 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

According to a report in Wall Street Journal, Larry Page has bought two massive Miami estates for a combined $173.4 million. The report quotes people familiar with the situation Google co-founder Sergey Brin is also said to be in discussions to purchase a Miami home, according to people familiar with the situation.Some analysts have termed Google founders' move to leave California strikingly similar to Jeff Bezos’ relocation playbook. According to them, the timing, structure, and destination of Page’s escape from Silicon Valley make his Florida pivot look quite like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

But the big difference here is that Jeff Bezos did not leave California. Amazon founder left Seattle, the city where he started the online bookseller that grew into the global tech giant, Amazon.

When Jeff Bezos left Seattle

In 2024, Bezos announced on Instagram that he was leaving Seattle after nearly 30 years to move to Miami. He said that the move was to be closer to his parents and his rocket launches at Blue Origin. In his Instagram post, Bezos called Seattle his home since 1994.

However, the timing, as some analysts pointed out, also suggested another reason: Taxes. In 2022 Washington state imposed a new, 7% capital gains tax on sales of stocks or bonds of more than $250,000.

As Washington state does not have a personal income tax, so the new levy marked the first time that Bezos would face state taxes on his stock sales. As reported by CNBC, in 2022, when the Washington state's Capital gains tax took effect, Bezos stopped selling.

He didn’t sell any Amazon stock in 2022 or 2023, gifting only $200 million of shares at the end of that year.After his move to Miami, Bezos reportedly made up for lost time. Quoting an SEC filing, the report says that Bezos launched a pre-scheduled stock-selling plan to unload 50 million shares before January 31, 2025. And since Florida has no state income tax or a tax on capital gains, so on the $2 billion sale that Bezos made, he saved $140 million that he would have paid to Washington state.

On the entire sale of 50 million shares over the next year, he saved more than at least 600 million.

What is California’s Billionaire's tax

California’s proposed ballot initiative has been proposed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West to offset federal budget cuts that will affect California’s health care system. It would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the assets of billionaires. The tax would retroactively apply to those who were California residents as of January 1, 2026. In December 2025, venture capitalist Peter Thiel announced that he opened an office for his family investment company in Miami.

Donald Trump's AI czar David Sacks unveiled a new office for his venture capital firm, Craft Ventures, in Austin, Texas.