US billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is relocating from Seattle to Miami to be close to his parents and his space tourism company, he announced Thursday.

"I'm planning to return to Miami, leaving the Pacific Northwest," the 59-year old Bezos announced on his Instagram account.

An old video accompanying the post showed Bezos giving a tour of Amazon's first office that he set up in his garage nearly three decades ago.

Bezos wrote that "it's an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart."

"I want to be close to my parents," he said, adding that the operations of his space exploration firm Blue Origin, "are increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral".

Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, stepped down as chief executive of Amazon in 2021.