‘Jeff Bezos is the second-richest man in the world yet is reported to pay a 1.1% true tax rate.’
Everyone Hates Elon and Greenpeace have unveiled a poster ahead of Jeff Bezos’ $48 million wedding this week, calling on the billionaire to pay more tax.
Locals are also planning to disrupt the lavish wedding, by marching in the streets and swimming in the canals.
On Monday, UK group Everyone Hates Elon and Greenpeace Italy unfurled a banner in St Mark’s Square, Venice which reads: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”
Bezos has paid minimal or no federal income tax in the US in recent years. Amazon paid no corporation tax at its Luxembourg headquarters between 2018 and 2022, despite raking in over €50 billion in 2022 alone.
In a joint statement, the two campaign groups said: “Jeff Bezos is the second-richest man in the world yet is reported to pay a 1.1% true tax rate”.
They added: “The multi-million-dollar wedding is reportedly happening over three days, with the wedding ring alone worth as much as $5 million.”
A spokesperson from Everyone Hates Elon said: “As governments talk about hard choices and struggle to fund public services, Jeff Bezos can afford to shut down half a city for days on end just to get married.
“Just weeks ago he spent millions on an 11 minute space trip. If there was ever a sign billionaires like Bezos should pay wealth taxes, it’s this.”
Another group, No Space for Bezos, is protesting overtourism in Venice and the billionaire’s tax practices.
An activist with No Space for Bezos, Federica Toninello, accused Bezos of not paying enough tax and getting rich off the backs of the working poor.
“He represents the future that we don’t want to live in,” she said.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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