Billionaires and businesses fuel growing exodus from blue states

A growing number of billionaires, CEOs and major corporations are relocating from blue states to red states, pointing to lower taxes, fewer regulations and a friendlier business climate.

The trend has picked up in recent years and shows no clear signs of slowing.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is the latest to criticize California's proposed wealth tax on billionaires.

"I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don't want California to end up in the same place," Brin said in a statement to The New York Times regarding a story by the outlet that discussed his move.

Several well-known companies have recently moved or announced plans to move their headquarters:

Samsung

The electronics giant is moving its U.S. headquarters from New Jersey to Plano, Texas, later this year.

"Samsung Electronics America Inc. is undergoing a business transformation designed to better position our organization for long-term growth and future success," Samsung spokesperson Chris Langlois said in a statement, according to NorthJersey.com.

Samsung's decision comes less than a year after it opened its headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and follows Exxon Mobil's recent decision to relocate its corporate headquarters to Texas.

New Jersey Business & Industry Association CEO Michele Siekerka blamed the "decades of anti-business policies in the state."

"With New Jersey maintaining the highest corporate tax rate in the nation, by far, and its national reputation for business unfriendliness through regulation and other costs and burdens, we have seen our Fortune 500 companies go from 22 in 2018 to 15 in 2025," Siekerka said in a statement.

She also said there is an "opportunity" for New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill to prevent more companies from leaving the state.

"Governor Sherrill has signaled the need and want to improve our business climate, to reduce costs, red tape and other permitting and regulatory burdens," Siekerka said. "We believe there is a reason to be optimistic."

Palantir Technologies

The tech firm announced in February that it moved its headquarters from Denver to Miami.

"We have moved our headquarters to Miami, Florida," Palantir wrote on X on Feb. 17.

Palantir previously shifted its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Denver in 2020. CEO Alex Karp attributed the move at the time to Silicon Valley's "increasing intolerance and monoculture," according to Business Insider.

ExxonMobil

The energy giant said it would leave New Jersey and reincorporate in Texas, pointing to the state’s pro-business legal environment after years of legal challenges.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in a Wall Street Journal interview that the move is intended to shield the company from what he described as shareholder "abuse."

"Texas is already our operating home, and we think it makes sense to make it our legal home," Woods said.

Public Storage

The company announced in February that it is moving its corporate headquarters from Glendale, California, to Frisco, Texas, ending a half-century run in California.

Founded in California in 1972, Public Storage has grown into the world’s largest owner of self-storage facilities, operating more than 3,500 properties across 40 states and holding a sizable stake in a European storage operator. 

The relocation marks a significant shift for a company long associated with California’s business community.

Yamaha Motor Co.

Yamaha is relocating its U.S. headquarters from California to Georgia after nearly 50 years in the Golden State, the company announced in February.

It added that the relocation will occur incrementally by business function, starting in late 2026, and is expected to conclude in late 2028.

Yamaha said in its announcement the move is "undertaking structural reforms aimed at improving the profitability of its U.S. operations in response to cost increases resulting from U.S. tariffs and changes in the market environment."

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SpaceX and X

The space company and social media platform relocated their headquarters from California to Texas, Elon Musk announced in 2024, citing policy concerns.

"This is the final straw," Musk wrote on X in response to news of a gender identity law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom. "Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas."

Tesla

The Musk-owned electric-vehicle maker officially moved its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to its Gigafactory in Texas, in December 2021, The New York Post reported.

"On December 1, 2021, Tesla, Inc. relocated its corporate headquarters to Gigafactory Texas at 13101 Harold Green Road, Austin, Texas 78725," according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chevron

The energy company announced plans in 2024 for the relocation of its headquarters from San Ramon, California, to Houston, Texas.

"There will be minimal immediate relocation impacts to other employees currently based in San Ramon. The company expects all corporate functions to migrate to Houston over the next five years. Positions in support of the company’s California operations will remain in San Ramon," Chevron said at the time.

Playboy

Playboy Enterprises announced last year that it would be moving its Los Angeles headquarters to Miami Beach.

Playboy CEO Ben Kohn characterized California as "anti-business," calling it an "extremely expensive place" to operate, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"We are excited to move the company to the city of Miami Beach, which has been phenomenal to deal with, very pro-business," Kohn said. "When you look at the cost of doing business in California against the cost of doing business in Florida, and you combine that with the energy of Miami Beach, it made all the sense in the world for Playboy to move there."

Oracle

Larry Ellison's tech firm announced in 2024 it was moving its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee. 

The company previously moved its headquarters from California to Texas in 2020, according to Fortune.

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Meanwhile, some other companies are expanding instead of fully relocating.

Starbucks recently announced plans to open a new corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee. In-N-Out is also expected to open a 100,000-square-foot eastern office near Nashville later this year.

The shift also includes high-profile individuals:

Howard Schultz

The former Starbucks CEO recently moved to Florida after decades in Washington state.

Schultz shared the news in a post on LinkedIn, recounting how he, his wife Sheri, and their golden retriever Jonas, made the move from New York City to Seattle 44 years ago.

"We were starting a new life," Shultz wrote, recalling how Sheri would be their primary income earner as he started a new job "at a place called Starbucks" in September 1982.

Jeff Bezos

Amazon's founder announced in 2023 that he was leaving Seattle for Miami.

"I’ve lived in Seattle longer than I’ve lived anywhere else and have so many amazing memories here. As exciting as the move is, it’s an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a piece of my heart," Bezos said in an Instagram post at the time.

Ken Griffin

The Citadel CEO moved the hedge fund's headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022, citing crime and failed policies in the city.

"Chicago, you know, over the last, unfortunately, over the last six or seven years, has been engulfed in a series of problems," Griffin said at the Citadel Securities Future of Global Markets conference in New York on Oct. 6, 2025.

Peter Thiel

The PayPal co-founder recently established a new office for Thiel Capital in Miami, according to Business Insider.

"The new office is located in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood and will complement Thiel Capital’s existing operations in Los Angeles, California. The lease for the office was signed in December 2025," the company said in a Dec. 31 announcement.

Stephen Ross

The founder of Related Companies and owner of the Miami Dolphins, relocated from New York to Florida, according to the New York Post.

Mark Zuckerberg

The Meta CEO and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have reportedly closed on a sprawling Miami-area estate for a bit less than the original $200 million listing price.

The home features nine bedrooms, 11.5 bathrooms, a "secret" library passageway, a wellness wing with a gym, professional-grade salon and massage room, a 1,500-gallon centerpiece aquarium, a jazz lounge, a 60-foot pool and more.

The home — located three doors down from Bezos in the so-called "Billionaire Bunker" — is still under construction and was designed by Canadian architect Ferris Rafauli, known for designing rapper Drake’s "Embassy" mansion in Toronto.

Sergey Brin

The co-founder of Google also reportedly closed recently on a $51 million property in northern Miami Beach.

Elon Musk

Musk, the world's richest person, announced in 2020 that he had moved to Texas, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He said the move was logical given Tesla’s factory in Texas and expressed frustration that, in his view, California had grown complacent toward its innovators, The Journal reported.

Travis Kalanick

The billionaire and Uber co-founder officially joined the exodus from California, revealing he moved to Austin, Texas, just weeks before a proposed wealth tax could have targeted his estimated $3.6 billion fortune.

"Just to be clear, on December 18, I moved to Texas. I don’t know what’s so specific about December 18, but let’s just say it’s prior to January," Kalanick said in an interview with TPBN.

"I get a little bit [of] FOMO on like, these people going to Florida. I'm like, dude! Why so much Florida action?" he continued. "Come on, homies."

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Florida, which has no state income tax, has become a major draw for wealthy individuals. 

California lawmakers are considering new taxes aimed at the ultra-wealthy. A proposed 2026 ballot measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on individuals worth more than $1 billion.

Critics argue higher taxes could push more businesses and wealthy residents to leave the state.

Brian Gray, a tax partner at Gursey Schneider, said the proposed wealth tax is accelerating an already existing trend of high-net-worth individuals leaving or planning to leave California.

"The 5% wealth tax is driving people like in droves right now," Gray told FOX Business. "It's like the top of every conversation I'm having."

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During a Feb. 10 appearance on FOX Business Network’s "The Big Money Show," following reports that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had purchased a home in Florida, Basenese Group CEO and chief strategist Lou Basenese said California is experiencing a significant billionaire "exodus."

"This is, by my count, the seventh billionaire that has left California, accounting for upwards of 800 to 900 billion dollars worth of wealth," Basenese said. "Total billionaires in California is about 180 to 190 with $1.3 trillion."

He added, "There is a mass exodus. We told you this was going to happen. … One leaves and the second, and then it's a death spiral to the bottom."

Kevin Brady, former House Ways and Means Committee chairman and an advisor to Americans for Free Markets, told FOX Business that steep taxes and heavy regulation are driving businesses and individuals to leave blue states, calling it "the economic story of the decade."

"I don't know why California continues to tax its businesses and people just so brutally," Brady said. "It's a beautiful state, it is a dynamic state, but they're chasing out – not just the wealthy and not just businesses – but their young people," Brady said.

Levi Lascsak, a Dallas-based real estate agent whose YouTube channel "Living in Dallas" helps people relocate, told FOX Business that remote work has given Americans more freedom to choose where they live — and many of his clients are choosing Texas for lower taxes, cheaper housing and fewer regulations.

"I think 2020 really changed a lot of that," he said. "That allowed people, for the first time, to actually choose where they wanted to live."

Lascsak said many of those relocating from states like California, New York and Washington are seeking areas that better align with their values and priorities, particularly when it comes to raising their children.  

Dallas — now home to roughly two dozen Fortune 500 companies — has also become a major draw for businesses, he added.

"In downtown Dallas, … [you're] hearing talk of ‘Y’all Street' instead of Wall Street," Lascsak said.

Lascsak, whose family is originally from California and who has also lived in Chicago and New York, said he ultimately returned to Texas.

"I always knew Texas would be home," he said.

Since 2020, California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Massachusetts have posted a combined net domestic migration loss of nearly 3.7 million residents, according to The Heritage Foundation, citing the Census Bureau.

Meanwhile, from July 2024 to July 2025, the top destination states were North Carolina, Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Arizona.

FOX Business' Eric Revell, Stephen Sorace, Kristen Altus, Bradford Betz, Aislinn Murphy and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.