When billionaires Stephen Ross and Ken Griffin left the cities where they built their empires—New York and Chicago—for South Florida's sunshine, they didn't just relocate. Now they're trying to persuade others to join them.
According to The New York Times, the two moguls are launching a multi-million-dollar campaign next week to promote Florida's Gold Coast, which includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, as the country's next great business frontier.
The initiative, called "Ambition Accelerated," is being run by the Florida Council of 100, a business lobbying group. Each man donated $5 million to the effort, the Times reported. Their pitch: Florida offers not only a better climate but also a better environment for business growth.
Ross, founder of Related Companies and the visionary behind Manhattan's Hudson Yards, decamped to West Palm Beach during the pandemic and has since been developing offices and luxury housing there. He told the Times that "Florida is one of the best business states, if not the best business state, in the country," suggesting it deserves consideration even over other rising Sun Belt destinations such as Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Griffin, who established the hedge fund Citadel and trading firm Citadel Securities, moved his operations to Miami in 2022. He said the region's "talent, regulatory predictability, cost structure, and quality of life" make it an appealing place for corporate expansion.
The push comes as South Florida continues to attract both businesses and wealthy individuals fleeing higher-tax regions—a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. Meanwhile, traditional business centers like New York and California face growing scrutiny from executives over tax policy.
California voters will weigh a wealth tax this November, and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called for new levies on the state's richest residents.
Ross and Griffin hope their campaign can draw companies from a range of industries, including technology, finance and start-ups. They've also invested in the region's educational and healthcare infrastructure, supporting the development of a Vanderbilt University campus and a new Cleveland Clinic hospital.
"We knew what our weaknesses were," Ross told the Times. "That's what we concentrated on for three years. We put the essentials into place."
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