> unless he does the step-up basis hack when he dies

I'm sure we can count that as a given.

> The government views Amazon as a money printer, states get their sales taxes, and the federal government gets their income taxes.

Except when states fall all over themselves to give Amazon a massive tax break to build their second HQ.

>I'm sure we can count that as a given.

It's very unlikely, he has pledged to give away most of his wealth in his lifetime, but there are a variety of factors that will always add space for detractors to make fair points. Bill Gates is still worth billions despite being an endless waterfall of charity money for decades.

Either way, the step-up thing is way way way more common in the upper class, where people with ~$24M want their kids to get $6M each. These people are nobodies with no public image, and light years away from "Billionaire Class" status.

>Except when states fall all over themselves to give Amazon a massive tax break to build their second HQ.

All the employees will pay income tax, and they will mostly spend their money in the state, generating sales tax. Then there is the second order effect of businesses that pop-up to feed off the money that the employees make.

What's often missed, and never explained, is that the government loves businesses, because businesses convert people into tax revenue, on almost all levels. Don't miss that.