Wow, I am surprised by this. I listened to the current Mayor of Miami in a radio interview when he was running for office years ago, and I remember clearly he said he wanted to build a space for tech companies similar to Silicon Valley in Miami. He’s a republican, but he sounded very moderate and centrist. He mentioned the city lacking in technology positions whereas manufacturing and farming abound. So, I am glad he managed to pull this off this vision he had.
Join Us in Miami! Love, Masters of the Universe
Silicon Valley techies and Wall Street titans have bought homes and moved businesses there in the pandemic, coaxed by an eager mayor.
America’s business leaders, freed from the office, looked around the country, taking note of its coronavirus lockdowns, taxes and rabble rousers. And many said as if in unison: Miami!
Blackstone Group: Miami!
Elliott Management: Miami!
Silicon Valley venture capitalists: Miami!
And the charming mayor, Francis X. Suarez, a registered Republican, knowing he had an especially easy sell at the moment, said: Welcome.
As tech leaders have decamped from San Francisco and Wall Street titans from New York, many have spread across the country to locations with sun, lower taxes and — preferably — more relaxed lockdowns. Coming from places run by progressive governments that were sometimes openly antagonistic toward local elites, many were thrilled to move to towns that seemed to want them more.
Some chose Austin, Texas. Others gravitated to Boulder, Colo. But perhaps the most vocal faction came to Miami.
“It was a lightning-in-the-bottle moment,” said Mr. Suarez, 43, who became mayor in 2017. “For them to hear an elected official saying, ‘Hey, we want you, hey, we appreciate you’ — I didn’t realize what a sensitive moment it was in terms of how people felt they were being treated by the governments where they lived.”
Dozens of big names have arrived. There was a tech contingent: Keith Rabois, a PayPal co-founder and investor, and his husband. Then their friend Peter Thiel, the tech investor and prominent conservative. Jon Oringer, founder of the stock-photography provider Shutterstock, and the media mogul Bryan Goldberg. Steven Galanis, the head of the celebrity-video product Cameo, is here. Elon Musk is talking about building car tunnels under Miami.
https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez/status/1351080594940293124
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1351091106805645312
There are also hedge funds and private equity funds. Paul Singer’s Elliott Management is moving its headquarters to the Miami area, as is Carl Icahn’s firm, Icahn Enterprises. Others are opening major Miami offices: Kenneth Griffin’s Citadel as well as Blackstone. Goldman Sachs is weighing moving parts of its operation to Miami.
Rich people have always moved to Miami to enjoy their wealth and while away their time on the water. It is unclear if these newcomers are just the latest generation to do that, or if they will really build new companies in the city.
“We recognize the amazing and unique natural gifts that G-d and geology bestowed on California, but enough is enough,” wrote David Blumberg, a venture capitalist who runs Blumberg Capital and moved from San Francisco to Miami in November. “We certainly hope and pray that California will take action to remedy the disastrous self-inflicted political situation and restore its former luster and quality of life, but for now we are voting with our feet.”
To Miami!
Mr. Suarez, who launched a program called eStart this week to simplify the process of starting a business in his town, credited a combination of the federal cap on state tax deductions, Covid-19, and leftward-moving politics in New York and San Francisco for making the Miami moment happen.
“Not only are you seeing more and more of your money going to government, you’re seeing more of your money going to a government that doesn’t want you,” he said. “So it’s like a double whammy.”
On Thursday, he went live on Twitter with the chief operating officer of SoftBank to announce the Japanese conglomerate had committed $100 million to investing in Miami tech companies or tech companies willing to move to the city.
Mr. Suarez is not above gimmicky stunts.
https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez/status/1354488469091975168
Anyone in tech who flies to Miami can also ask to stay in a special discounted hotel suite with a body-scanning mattress made by a start-up called Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep’s founders also just moved to Miami.
https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez/status/1350953381943238656
https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez/status/1350954891410337798
Fun fact: @Phantom_Miria is a guy.