How Jeff Bezos outsmarted the IRS.

Robin Williams roasting the banking system 15 years ago

This is exactly why income tax doesn't tax the rich! The system is designed to let the rich escape taxes. Worse, when they die, the cost basis of the assets gets reset! Still no tax on the inheritance.

If we eliminate the income tax and fund our nation with tariffs, (as we once did and Trump wants to do again,) we wouldn't need the IRS. That's a win/win.

The Three Stooges in 1957 demonstrating how the banking system works

The exact moment Jeff Bezos decided not to become a physicist.

Jeff Bezos talks about the morning routine of a billionaire.

Banks aren't just going to loan Jeff hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, without "securing" the loan, which they do with AMZN stock. If Jeff dies, the bank gets stock to pay off the loan. Banks HATE unsecured loans, they're liabilities and they avoid them at all costs. The real easy fix to this loophole is to classify stocks as being vested (eg: sold and subject to capital gains tax) if they are used as collateral to secure loans. Simple as that. Jeff, and other billionaires, would suddenly have a present-day tax burden, without taxing them on unrealized capital gains from the majority of their shares.

Renowned British architect Norman Foster was spotted driving his £15,000,000 Aston Martin Bulldog.

Loan against shares so you don’t incur a taxable event. Brilliant

Not completely accurate. Bezos sold $8.5 billion in shares in February. A Tuesday SEC filing by Amazon shows Bezos plans on selling 25 million Amazon shares valued at $4.93 billion. The new sale would bring Bezos’ total sold to around $13.4 billion in stock in 2024. Bezos owns around 9% of Amazon shares, according to a report from the Financial Times. Jeff is moving from Seattle to Miami to avoid the estate tax.