When you're as rich as someone like Jeff Bezos it's almost harder to find ways to spend your money than it is to earn it, yet the Amazon co-founder managed to shed $1,000 every month simply by breaking one particular California law.
He might have fallen down the charts by a place or two in the last year, but Jeff Bezos is still the fourth richest individual in the world with a net worth of over $220 billion in total.
Much of that comes from Amazon, of course, and he's more than splashed the cash since entering the world of the ultra wealthy through a recent lavish wedding in Venice alongside huge money sinks like his mega yachts.
$1,000 to most people is a considerable portion of their monthly pay check yet for Bezos it's a drop in the water compared to his overall fortune, and that's why he's seemingly happy enough to lose it every month over a minor detail in one of his many homes.
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His neighbors have already complained that he's allegedly not the ideal person to have in your community, and the same could perhaps be said for his California home which features a law-breaking privacy fence.
As shared by Business Report, some claim that it's the tallest residential hedge across America, and reports suggest that it was technically there when he bought the mansion – valued at around $165 million in 2020, but that doesn't stop the fact that it breaches local regulations when it comes to its height.
Beverly Hills law denotes that hedges and fences must not exceed 3.5 feet (1.5 meters) due to concerns about blocking the views of other properties, yet Bezos' surroundings well exceed that, landing him with the hefty fine.
Thankfully for him it's nothing more than a monetary punishment, and there appears to be no effort to escalate it beyond that — and you could argue that the local area is probably happy enough to continue raking in the money from someone that's willing to pay up without question.
Many on social media have expressed their distaste at Bezos' handling of the situation, however, noting the double standards that allow rich people to live a completely different life compared to the rest of us.
"Laws are only for poor people," wrote one commenter on Reddit, with another chiming in to argue that "any law punishable only by a fine is just a subscription for the rich."
One even suggested that "fines should be based on income or net worth percentage," and that would certainly make Bezos pay attention and fix the issue in no time.