Venetian Billionaire: How Amazon Built the Empire That Made Jeff Bezos one of World’s Richest Men

As the world’s richest guests descend on Venice for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s lavish wedding, the scene is already drawing protest. And rightly so. Behind the €40 million party, the security lockdowns, and the €3 million hush donation to the city lies the real reason Bezos can afford to float above the world: Amazon.

From 2014 to 2024, Amazon pulled in a staggering $3.6 trillion in global revenue. In 2024 alone, it raked in $640 billion—more than the GDP of most countries. To put it in perspective, it would take over 114,000 years to count to 3.6 trillion. It’s the kind of cocktail-party stat you could use to teach your kids about numbers, money, and economics.

And it tells you everything you need to know about modern capitalism.

Across that same decade, Amazon reported $197 billion in global pre-tax profit. Of that, $180 billion – over 90% – was reported in the United States. But this reflects accounting treatment, not economic geography. Amazon’s customers, fulfilment centres and logistics networks stretch across Europe, Asia, and beyond. Its operations are global. Its profits are not.

This is not a story of American dominance. It is a case study in how multinationals engineer the location of profit for tax purposes. Through a combination of intercompany licensing, transfer pricing, and internal cost allocation – often involving intellectual property parked in Luxembourg- Amazon has made the rest of the world appear marginal to its profitability.

That illusion pays. Over the past ten years, Amazon has paid just $27 billion in corporate tax on $197 billion of global profits—an effective tax rate of only 14%. In the United States, where it books nearly all its profit, the rate is even lower: $16 billion on $180 billion, or under 9%.

Let that sink in. Amazon generated nearly $3.6 trillion in revenue, booked $180 billion in profit in the U.S., and paid an effective tax rate below 9%.

These structures are not unique to Amazon. But Amazon exemplifies their success. It monetised logistics, digital retail, and cloud infrastructure while minimising its tax exposure. In doing so, it helped pioneer a model of American multinational capitalism built on global revenue, domestic profit, and minimal tax liabilities.

And the result? Jeff Bezos is now worth an estimated $227 billion. His Venetian wedding donation – €3 million to the city to smooth tensions – is just 0.0013% of that fortune. For Bezos, it’s not a gesture. It’s a rounding error. It’s like someone handing over $8 to appease their neighbours while hosting a street party with fireworks and a private air show.

Critics of wealth inequality often focus on consumption: yachts, weddings, and celebrity indulgence. But the real issue is production – how global platform companies like Amazon structure their finances to retain wealth and monopolise markets. The point is not that Bezos spends lavishly. It’s that the system lets him accumulate so much, so fast, and so untaxed.

So as Bezos toasts his bride on a Venetian terrace, serenaded by Andrea Bocelli and shielded by armed guards, remember: his wealth isn’t just the product of entrepreneurship. It’s the outcome of a political and financial system that rewards monopoly, punishes transparency, and treats corporate tax like an optional extra.

Amazon made him rich. The tax code let him keep it.