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Bezos Dismisses 'Buy Borrow Die' Tax Strategy as Largely Mythical

Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos characterized a controversial tax avoidance strategy as largely fictional. The 'buy, borrow, die' approach allows affluent asset holders to secure loans against their holdings and use proceeds as income while avoiding taxation, since borrowed funds are not considered taxable income. Bezos told CNBC he pays taxes when selling Amazon stock to finance Blue Origin and other ventures. The strategy has drawn fire from Democratic lawmakers including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden, who have proposed wealth-based taxation alternatives. Tech billionaires including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Elon Musk have been identified as practitioners, with Ellison pledging over $30 billion in stock as loan collateral. Musk reported paying $11 billion in federal and state taxes in 2021 after exercising Tesla options.