• Tax proposals in California and New York are pushing billionaires to Florida.
• Aside from the tax benefits, lifestyle perks are also fueling the trend.
• Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin have all recently purchased homes in the city.

Move aside, Wall Street and Silicon Valley: Miami is vying to be the new epicenter of US business, tech, and wealth.

The city has long been seen as a gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, but recent developments in its business landscape are helping turn it into a larger American business hub.

Finance firms, tech companies, and consumer brands have expanded their presence in the city, from opening new offices to relocating headquarters.

And their executives have joined the wave.

Ken Griffin recorded Miami-Dade County's first-ever nine-figure home sale after Citadel announced its relocation in 2022; Jeff Bezos spent $147 million on two Indian Creek homes after leaving Seattle for Miami; and Palantir CEO Alex Karp quietly bought a $46 million mansion on the Venetian Islands ahead of the company's headquarters shift to Aventura.

This comes as states like New York and California are considering or proposing policies aimed at increasing the taxation of the ultrawealthy. This includes California's proposed Billionaire Tax Act, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents and certain trusts worth at least $1 billion, and New York's pied-à-terre tax bill, which would impose an added tax on certain non-primary New York City homes, including second homes owned by people whose primary residence is elsewhere.

But beyond the tax benefits, the ultrawealthy are flocking to Miami for the lifestyle.

"You can't beat the lifestyle," Manny Varas, a luxury homebuilder who works with billionaire clients in South Florida, told Business Insider.

Varas, who has built and renovated homes for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Lil Wayne, and the Bezos family, said that the city's "pro-work and creative environment," as well as its culinary, hospitality, arts, and events scene, are among the biggest drivers of billionaires' decisions to move to Miami over other tax-friendly states.

Some of these leaders have officially announced they or their companies will be moving to the Sunshine State, while others have quietly snapped up property in the city in recent months, signaling a potential expansion of their presence there. While some have cited business interests, others have publicly shared factors such as family proximity and Miami's culture.

Here are some of the most notable people and companies that have recently relocated or bought up property in Miami.

Ken Griffin

Leading Miami's billionaire migration is Ken Griffin. In June 2022, Citadel and Citadel Securities announced they would move their global headquarters from Chicago to Miami.

In April 2022, an entity tied to Citadel paid a then-record $363 million for a waterfront Brickell office development site.

Citadel now lists Miami as its global headquarters, and its new Brickell location is expected to have 1.2 million square feet of office space, according to its plans.

Meanwhile, Griffin purchased the $107 million, 4-acre Adrienne Arsht Estate in Coconut Grove in 2022, setting a Miami-Dade record at the time and becoming the first nine-figure home sale in the county's history.

While Citadel's permanent Brickell tower is still in development, Griffin has been one of the biggest figures betting on Miami as the next center of US commerce.

The company told Business Insider that the city was home to about 400 Citadel-affiliated employees, including some senior executives.

Jeff Bezos

In 2023, the Amazon founder announced via an Instagram post that he was leaving Seattle for Miami

That fall, Bezos bought neighboring mansions in Miami's Indian Creek Island for $79 million and $68 million, in what was one of the highest-profile moves in Miami's billionaire era.

Bezos cited Blue Origin's operations in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and his parents' relocation back to the city as reasons for his return to Miami, where he attended high school.

Peter Thiel

On December 31, 2025, Thiel Capital — Peter Thiel's private investment firm — announced that it had opened a Wynwood office, saying the space would complement its Los Angeles operations.

The firm also said Thiel has maintained a personal residence in Miami since 2020, when he purchased an $18 million mansion in Miami's Venetian Islands.

In 2024, Thiel moved his voter registration to Florida, further formalizing his move to the state.

Michael Ferro

In March 2025, Michael Ferro Jr., chairman of the private equity firm Merrick Ventures, bought a 2.5-acre estate on Star Island for $120 million, setting what was then a record for a home sale in Miami-Dade County.

He also moved Merrick Ventures to Florida. The investment firm Ferro, founded in 2007 and previously based in Chicago, is now described on its website as a Florida-based private equity company focused on technology.

FC Barcelona

Along with Miami's influx of billionaires, the city has also become the American capital of soccer, with international figures like Lionel Messi and David Beckham investing in the sport's presence there.

In April 2025, FC Barcelona announced it would relocate its North American division's commercial offices from New York to Miami's One Biscayne Tower after receiving an incentive grant from the Miami Downtown Development Authority, an autonomous city agency focused on economic and business development.

Galderma

Galderma, the parent company behind brands like Cetaphil and Differin, announced in June 2025 that it would establish its new US headquarters in Miami's Brickell neighborhood. The company said it expects roughly 150 employees to be based there by 2028.

The skincare company cited the concentration of med spas and dermatology clinics in the Miami metro area, the rapid growth of aesthetic procedures in the region, and the size of the Miami Health District as drivers behind the move.

Playboy

In August 2025, Playboy announced it would relocate its global headquarters from Los Angeles to Miami Beach. At the same time, it announced plans for a new Playboy Club in Miami Beach and new content studios in the city.

The company hopes to open its offices by September 2026.

"Miami Beach is among the most dynamic and culturally influential cities in the country, making it the ideal home for Playboy's next chapter," Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy Inc., said in the statement.

MSC Cruises

In January, MSC Group's cruise division opened its new North American headquarters in downtown Miami.

The 130,000-square-foot office, located near PortMiami, is a roughly $100 million investment that will house more than 400 employees across MSC entities under one roof, MSC said in its announcement.

Palantir

In February, Palantir announced it had moved its headquarters to Miami.

Regulatory filings placed the company's principal executive office at 19505 Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura, about 17 miles north of downtown Miami.

The address, which is also home to an Industrious coworking space, is located across from the sprawling Aventura Mall and sits above a Sweetgreen, a Starbucks, and a Lego store.

Months before, CEO Alex Karp quietly bought a $46 million mansion in Miami's Venetian Islands.

Howard Schultz

In March, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a LinkedIn post that he and his wife were leaving Seattle for Florida after more than four decades in the city. He wrote that they had moved to Miami for their "next adventure together."

The announcement followed Schultz's purchase of a $44 million penthouse at the Four Seasons Private Residences, a waterfront residential tower in Surfside.

The executive, who had long-established ties in Seattle — the city where the coffee chain was founded — is one of the newest neighbors in Miami's high-profile circles.

Mark Zuckerberg

While the social media tycoon has not formally announced a relocation to Miami, Mark Zuckerberg made Miami history in March when he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, purchased a $170 million property on the appropriately nicknamed "Billionaire's Bunker," Indian Creek Island — the most expensive home sale in Miami-Dade County's history.

The still-under-construction property spans about 2 acres on the exclusive island, where Zuckerberg will be neighbors with Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump, and other notable figures.

Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have both made major moves into South Florida's luxury real-estate market in recent months.

Page, who has long been based in Palo Alto, California, spent roughly $173.4 million on two Coconut Grove properties — including a 4.5-acre waterfront compound on Biscayne Bay — in December and January.

In March, Brin, who has also been a longtime California resident based in the Bay Area, purchased the former Allison Island home of LVMH CEO Michael Burke for $51 million.

• British billionaire John Caudwell has eight children, ranging in age from 2 to 47.
• From flying coach to wearing Zara, he's intent on raising grounded and hardworking kids.
• Here's Caudwell's approach to parenting — and his biggest piece of advice.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Caudwell, the British billionaire founder of mobile phone businesses Phones 4u and Singlepoint, both of which he sold. Caudwell is raising three children with his partner, former Olympian Modesta Vžesniauskaitė, and now focuses on his childrens' charities and real estate investing. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

My family life is very dynamic. I have eight children, one of whom I'm the stepfather to. My youngest kids are 2 and 5 years old, and my oldest is 47.

I grew up in a little terraced house in the middle of Stoke-on-Trent, and I had next to nothing. I don't want my kids to have next to nothing, but I don't want to overcorrect the way that some rich people do.

For my older kids, when I was building my businesses, there was less time on a day-to-day basis, but it was quality time. I've always made quality time an absolute priority: almost never missing a sports day or prize-giving, things that were important.

Now, we do most of the parenting and don't have nannies. I have two housekeepers who help out, but school is the real answer, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. That gives them discipline, entertainment, interest, and education.

Flying economy and shopping at Primark

Everybody wants to be spoiled, but it's very important that we keep our kids' feet on the ground, so we are very controlled about how we approach luxury.

For instance, when we go on the superyacht for a family holiday, that's mainly a treat for me. The adult children have to make their own way to the boat. The younger ones travel in economy with Modesta — I'll take business class most of the time — and we take the budget airline easyJet. We have to demonstrate to them what normal life is like.

They have virtually no designer clothes — maybe some that they got as presents, but we buy them clothes from Zara and Primark. If you go to Gucci and pay a thousand pounds, are the kids any happier? No, they're not. Do they end up having a very spoiled attitude? Yeah, they probably do.

When we take them to a restaurant, they'll have chicken nuggets and chips, and the younger ones share a plate. I hate wasting food. I always remember, when one of my daughters was young, we went to a restaurant, and she asked, "Daddy, would you really mind on this occasion if I had steak and chips?" You see kids out there just ordering lobster, and my kids would never dream of it.

When it comes to spoiling, one early mistake we made was buying them too much at Christmas. Not expensive gifts, but too many of them. They'd scramble through all the boxes and end up playing with a cardboard box. Now, we take a much more frugal approach; two or three Christmas presents are more than enough.

Our financial support is a very frugal help line that encourages them to achieve their own success. It supports them while they're in school so they can focus on being good students. It doesn't pay for them to go out to nightclubs or have expensive meals. My support is very much related to the effort they put into their lives.

My adult children are all busy making their own careers. One of my daughters is a psychotherapist, one works in real estate, and another works at a bank. One of my sons is a musician, writing and producing songs, and another is getting his real estate license.

The golden rule

The one thing I always do is that no matter what happens in your child's life, you're constantly telling them you love them.

No matter how much I have to punish them, it's always followed by, "Well, of course, I love you, darling. I love you very much, but I have to discipline you because you have to grow up to be meaningful, good people."

That's been consistent: I don't really want anything from them in life other than for them to be happy and leave the world a better place than they found it.

What does it matter if they're rich, if they're unhappy? What does it matter if they're an Olympian, if they're unhappy?

If every kid could grow up to aspire to those goals, which of course is very difficult to achieve, what a wonderful life for our children, but also what a wonderful place for the world to be.