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Jeff Bezos has been one of the richest people in the world for years, yet his official salary from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has barely changed in decades. A recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows the company founder and executive chairman still earns about $81,840 a year, roughly the same amount he set for himself back in 1998.
That figure stands in sharp contrast to his net worth, which Bloomberg puts at $269 billion. Boston College Law School Professor Ray Madoff says that this low salary isn’t unusual for the ultra-wealthy; it’s strategic.
“Salaries are for suckers,” Madoff recently said on “The Ezra Klein Show,” explaining that wage income faces some of the highest taxes in the U.S. system. Workers can pay income taxes of up to 37%, plus payroll taxes that can reach 15.3%.
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That’s very different from how wealth is treated. People like Bezos don’t rely on salaries. Instead, most of their money comes from assets like stock, which can grow for years without being taxed.
According to the SEC filing, Bezos owns about 8% of Amazon, a stake worth more than $200 billion. Because that wealth is tied up in stock, it doesn’t count as taxable income unless he sells it.
And selling isn’t always necessary. As Madoff explained, wealthy individuals can “simply borrow against the stock and use that money to support [their] lifestyle.” Those loans aren’t considered income, which means they aren’t taxed.
This creates a system where high earners, like doctors or lawyers, often pay far higher tax rates than billionaires whose wealth keeps growing on paper.
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Amazon has long structured executive compensation around stock instead of cash. The company said in the filing that this approach is meant to “closely tie total compensation to long-term shareholder value.”
Bezos has said he didn’t feel the need for more compensation, saying during a New York Times DealBook Summit interview in 2024, “I already owned a significant amount of the company, and I just didn’t feel good about taking more.”
Although his salary is modest compared with his wealth, he still receives significant company-paid perks. Amazon spent about $1.6 million last year on Bezos’ security and travel costs, which it described as “reasonable and necessary.”
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The gap between how wages and wealth are taxed has become a growing point of debate. To Madoff, the issue isn’t just about individual behavior, but how the system is designed. Wealth can grow tax-free for years and, in some cases, never be taxed at all if it’s passed down through inheritance.
That dynamic, she said, leaves many Americans feeling like they’re carrying more of the burden.
“It’s as if we had a system that said people who live in Pennsylvania don’t have to pay tax,” Madoff said. “It’s wrong as a matter of principle. It’s wrong because we need their money. It’s wrong as a matter of fairness.”
The gap between how income and wealth are taxed highlights a broader issue many households face: it’s not just how much you earn or invest, but how much you actually keep after taxes over time.
Finance Advisors offers a free matching platform that connects individuals with fiduciary financial advisors who specialize in tax-aware retirement planning—focusing on strategies like withdrawal timing, asset allocation, and long-term tax efficiency to help improve after-tax outcomes.
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Building a resilient portfolio means thinking beyond a single asset or market trend. Economic cycles shift, sectors rise and fall, and no one investment performs well in every environment. That’s why many investors look to diversify with platforms that provide access to real estate, fixed-income opportunities, professional financial guidance, precious metals, and even self-directed retirement accounts. By spreading exposure across multiple asset classes, it becomes easier to manage risk, capture steady returns, and create long-term wealth that isn’t tied to the fortunes of just one company or industry.
Rad AI
RAD Intel is an AI-driven marketing platform helping brands improve campaign performance by turning complex data into actionable insights for content, influencer strategy, and ROI optimization. Positioned within the multi-hundred-billion-dollar digital marketing industry, the company works with global brands across sectors to improve targeting precision and creative performance using its analytics and AI tools. With strong revenue growth, expanding enterprise contracts, and a Nasdaq ticker reserved under $RADI, RAD Intel is opening access to its Regulation A+ offering, giving investors exposure to the growing intersection of AI, marketing, and creator economy infrastructure.
Connect Invest
Connect Invest is a real estate investment platform that allows investors to access short-term, fixed-income opportunities backed by a diversified portfolio of residential and commercial real estate loans. Through its Short Notes structure, investors can choose defined terms (6, 12, or 24 months) and earn monthly interest payments while gaining exposure to real estate as an asset class. For investors focused on diversification, Connect Invest may serve as one component within a broader portfolio that also includes traditional equities, fixed income, and other alternative assets—helping balance exposure across different risk and return profiles.
Mode Mobile
Mode Mobile is changing the way people interact with their phones by letting users earn money from the same apps and activities they already use every day. Instead of platforms keeping all the advertising revenue, Mode Mobile shares a portion back with users who engage with content, play games, and scroll on their devices. Named one of Deloitte’s fastest-growing software companies in North America, the company has built a large beta user base and is scaling a model that turns everyday smartphone usage into a potential income stream. For investors, Mode Mobile offers exposure to the expanding mobile advertising and attention economy through a pre-IPO opportunity tied to a new approach to user monetization.
rHealth
rHealth is building a space-tested diagnostics platform designed to bring lab-quality blood testing closer to patients in minutes rather than weeks. Originally validated in collaboration with NASA for use aboard the International Space Station, the technology is now being adapted for at-home and point-of-care settings to address widespread delays in diagnostic access.
Backed by institutions including NASA and the NIH, rHealth is targeting the large global diagnostics market with a multi-test platform and a model built around devices, consumables, and software. With FDA registration in progress, the company is positioning itself as a potential shift toward faster, more decentralized healthcare testing.
Direxion
Direxion specializes in leveraged and inverse ETFs designed to help active traders express short-term market views during periods of volatility and major market events. Rather than long-term investing, these products are built for tactical use—allowing investors to take magnified bullish or bearish positions across indices, sectors, and single stocks. For experienced traders, Direxion offers a way to respond quickly to changing market conditions and act on high-conviction views with greater flexibility.
Immersed
Immersed is a spatial computing company building immersive productivity software that enables users to work across multiple virtual screens inside VR and mixed-reality environments. Its platform is used by remote workers and enterprises to create virtual workspaces that reduce reliance on traditional physical hardware while improving focus and collaboration. The company is also developing its own lightweight VR headset and AI productivity tools, positioning itself in the future-of-work and spatial computing space. Through its pre-IPO offering, Immersed is opening access to early-stage investors looking to diversify beyond traditional assets and gain exposure to emerging technologies shaping how people work.
Arrived
Backed by Jeff Bezos, Arrived Homes makes real estate investing accessible with a low barrier to entry. Investors can buy fractional shares of single-family rentals and vacation homes starting with as little as $100. This allows everyday investors to diversify into real estate, collect rental income, and build long-term wealth without needing to manage properties directly.
Masterworks
Masterworks enables investors to diversify into blue-chip art, an alternative asset class with historically low correlation to stocks and bonds. Through fractional ownership of museum-quality works by artists like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso, investors gain access without the high costs or complexities of owning art outright. With hundreds of offerings and strong historical exits on select works, Masterworks adds a scarce, globally traded asset to portfolios seeking long-term diversification.
Finance Advisors
Finance Advisors helps Americans approach retirement with greater clarity by connecting them to vetted, fiduciary financial advisors who specialize in tax-aware retirement planning. Rather than focusing on products or investment performance alone, the platform emphasizes strategies that account for after-tax income, withdrawal sequencing, and long-term tax efficiency—factors that can materially impact retirement outcomes. Free to use, Finance Advisors gives individuals with meaningful savings access to a level of planning sophistication historically reserved for high-net-worth households, helping reduce hidden tax risk and improve long-term financial confidence.
Bam Capital
BAM Capital offers accredited investors a way to diversify beyond public markets through institutional-grade multifamily real estate. With over $1.85 billion in completed transactions and guidance from Senior Economic Advisor Tony Landa, the firm targets income and long-term growth as supply tightens and renter demand remains strong—especially in Midwest markets. Its income-focused and growth-oriented funds provide exposure to real assets designed to be less tied to stock market volatility.
Public
Public is a multi-asset investing platform built for long-term investors who want more control, transparency, and innovation in how they grow wealth. Founded in 2019 as the first broker-dealer to offer commission-free, real-time fractional investing, Public now lets users invest in stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and more—all in one place. Its latest feature, Generated Assets, uses AI to turn a single idea into a fully customized, investable index that can be explained and backtested before committing capital. Combined with AI-powered research tools, clear explanations of market moves, and an uncapped 1% match for transferring an existing portfolio, Public positions itself as a modern platform designed to help serious investors make more informed decisions with context.
AdviserMatch
AdviserMatch is a free online tool that helps individuals connect with financial advisors based on their goals, financial situation, and investment needs. Instead of spending hours researching advisors on your own, the platform asks a few quick questions and matches you with professionals who can assist with areas like retirement planning, investment strategy, and overall financial guidance. Consultations are no-obligation, and services vary by advisor, giving investors a chance to explore whether professional advice could help improve their long-term financial plan.
EnergyX
EnergyX is a lithium extraction company focused on making production faster and more efficient with its LiTAS® technology, which can recover over 90% of lithium in just days instead of months. Backed by General Motors and a $5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, the company controls extensive lithium acreage in Chile and the U.S. and is working to scale one of the largest lithium production facilities. Its goal is to help meet the rapidly growing global demand for lithium, a key resource for electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and large-scale energy storage.
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