On Nov. 2, Jeff Bezos — former Chief Executive Officer and founder of Amazon — announced he was leaving Seattle, Wash., for the sandy beaches and bright lights of Miami, Fla..
Bezos’ reason for the relatively sudden move is his rocket company, Blue Origin’s, which switched its headquarters of operation from Kent, Wash. to Cape Canaveral, Fla.. This way, Bezos can keep a close eye on the operations at hand, and make sure his plan of colonizing the solar system becomes a reality.
In early 2021, Bezos stepped down from his position as CEO of Amazon but remains the company’s executive chairman. He was later replaced by colleague Andy Jassy on June 5, 2021. Amazon’s stocks declined heavily after only a few months of Jassy’s leadership.
Shortly after the news of Bezos’ relocation to Florida, rumors spread of Amazon possibly leasing 50,000 square feet in the Miami area to build Miami-Dade’s very own Amazon financial headquarters. Since Amazon currently has about 400 employees working in Miami at office space leasing companies such as WeWork, staffing for an expansion like this does not present any issues; however, Amazon could instead choose to relocate their current staff to Miami.
This move would provide the business world in Miami with growth opportunities and would open up employment options with the Amazon team.
“The housing problems that we’re having in South Florida grow because we [already] don’t have enough housing for the people we have here,” Honors Economics teacher Armando Gonzalez said. “And, therefore, prices are going to go up, especially [in] the higher end; that’s gonna be a problem for the middle class.”
The move raises the question of how inflation will be affected by a large company moving its finances over to a city at the forefront of the issue.
With this in mind, this change in headquarters will not affect inflation, as it remains stagnant at around 7% in Miami and Jacksonville, making Florida the state with the highest rates in the country. Lately, inflation has been facing more of a decline in Florida, which means Amazon would not directly affect inflation as much as it would housing and rent.
“We don’t have state income tax, so we’re more business-friendly in Florida, compared to most states,” Gonzalez said.
Companies such as Microsoft and other large vendors have done just what Gonzalez describes, therefore Amazon could very soon follow in the same footsteps.
