Business
Fleeing for their futures, California’s exodus churns a massive Florida ‘gold rush’
As business expenses and the cost of living continue to rise in the Golden State, South Florida reaps the benefits as tech moguls and other wealthy business owners find a financial safe haven in the Sunshine State.
California’s self-inflicted economic wounds have reached a fever pitch in 2026.
Strapped with record-high gas prices, a staggering $31 billion transit deficit and a radical billionaire wealth tax heading to the ballot this November, the Golden State is witnessing an unprecedented mass migration.
It is no longer just a working-class flight; California’s elite are actively being courted by pro-business states, prompting luxury billboards to tell Angelenos they should “move to Miami, where they are not being persecuted for having extreme wealth.”
As ultra-high-net-worth buyers permanently sever their West Coast ties, urban affairs and real estate experts warn that the progressive enclave is “careening towards a very, very difficult period,” leaving a hollowed-out middle class left behind to bail out the deficit.
“We started to see the outmigration. It was very concentrated among poor, working-class people who were reacting to changes in the economy and prices. Increasingly, the people leaving are wealthier,” Chapman University professor Joel Kotkin told Fox News Digital. “And that means that they’re taking their tax dollars with them. So states like Florida and Texas gain enormously from this kind of trade, both from New York and from California in particular. So one of the things it’s going to do is it’s gonna put pressure on the remaining middle class to bail it out.”
The California-to-Florida exodus has reaped rewards for some, while others in their Golden State home face rising cost and regulation pressures. (Getty Images; iStock)
“The fact that you’re paying more in income tax than you take home yourself on an annual basis is madness to me,” said RIVANI President and founder Robert Rivani, who moved his family and commercial real estate firm from L.A. to Miami in 2020. “I’d be somewhat OK with even paying that high tax rate if we didn’t have our economy falling apart, if we didn’t have such a massive increase in homelessness, if we [didn’t] have such a mass increase in crime. You’re paying all this money, but for what?”
“It’s really sad,” Douglas Elliman’s Cory Weiss added. “Some people have no choice but to leave.”
California faces a critical turning point with a multibillion-dollar transportation funding gap, high energy costs, an upcoming November ballot measure for a controversial billionaire tax and staggering exodus numbers — notably including Los Angeles County losing more than 54,000 residents in a single year.
‘The Big Money Show’ analyzes new data showing Los Angeles County lost tens of thousands of residents, with fewer people moving in to replace them.
What’s more, Weiss argued that permitting delays have slowed rebuilding efforts, saying about 25% to 30% of Palisades and Eaton fire victims will rebuild while most will walk away. The deciding factor is often not desire, but rather the math surrounding insurance disputes, labor shortages, permitting delays and rebuilding costs.
The “final nail in the coffin” for Rivani – who facilitated the California-to-Florida corporate relocations for Playboy and “Shark Tank” investor Daymond John – was losing his Malibu home to a past wildfire: “I thought California was going towards communism… We couldn’t have enough funding for enough firefighters or enough public support… I’d rather be the person that’s ahead of the trend, and that’s why I decided to move to Florida, I said, ‘I’m done with it.’”
Florida became a major beneficiary of migration from high-tax states, attracting billions of dollars in luxury real estate investments from figures including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison. This shift occurred alongside a broader national trend that saw nearly $1 trillion in assets under management relocate from states such as California and New York to Sun Belt states, according to industry estimates.
As labor and energy costs rise in California, small business owners say minimum wage laws and gas taxes in the Golden State are crippling their operations.
It’s a type of “gold rush” that Douglas Elliman’s No. 1 agent nationwide, Dina Goldentayer, is capitalizing on. She launched billboards across Los Angeles featuring her face and a $79.5 million listing that read: “Your wealth is wanted. Step inside with me. #MoveToMiami.”
“There’s obviously a little bit of satire there. The house that’s on the billboard is my $79 million listing in Golden Beach, so there’s definitely a target market for whom that billboard is intended for,” Goldentayer told Fox News Digital. “The calls that I receive are mostly from people already in my network, top brokers out in the L.A., Beverly Hills market who we share some good laughs about the messaging of the billboard. My clients with whom I’m already working with, they think that it is brilliant.”
“Every buyer over $30 million that I’m working with currently is from California… It absolutely picked up right at the tail end of the year when the Google founders were purchasing property in Miami,” she added. “As far as the ultra-high-net-worth individuals, the billionaires, they obviously don’t feel wanted in the blue states. They are not being loved in Manhattan and Los Angeles and markets of similarity. So it is being signaled that Florida wants you.”
CEO: MIAMI’S LUXURY BOOM FUELS ‘MECCA’ FOR WEALTHY AS OTHER BUYERS FEEL PRICED OUT
“There is zero income tax here, zero. It is still a thriving economy,” Rivani said of Florida. “Yeah, you’re taxing people in California and in New York over 50%, and the economy keeps falling apart and people keep running away. So taxing the rich and getting nothing for it, not only for the wealthy people but for the economy and the people, itself, is a zero-sum solution. It does not work.”
Goldentayer sends a message to Angelenos: Your wealth is wanted in Miami.
“My entire family is still in California. We left all of our family. My parents don’t get to see their grandchild that we had here in South Florida. So it’s devastating not to be able to have those intimate moments with your family,” Rivani continued. “But then, at the end of the day, I had to say enough is enough, and I had to think for the benefit of my family and their future. And if I saw that there was a potential [for] comeback or change in the near future, I would have stayed and stuck it through. I just don’t see that happening.”
“If you’re going to really maintain a low-employment welfare state, which is where California is going,” Kotkin cautioned, “you’re going to have to tax the hell out of the middle and upper middle class, because that’s where the money is. And I think that’s going to be what will come next.”
“Part of the problem is that you’re paying these prices that you have no choice about… Whether the wealth tax passes or not, I don’t think it will make a big difference one way or the other, but what it does say if you’re a business owner, what are they going to get after next?” the professor expanded. “You have a legislature that is completely controlled by the public employees. And so, well, the public employee is in their immediate self-interest to tax people as much as possible. The problem is nobody has explained to them that eventually, you do run out of money, and eventually they’re going to have to be some sort of cutbacks. I think California right now is careening towards a very, very difficult period. And I don’t see it turning around, at least in the immediate future.”
Fox News Digital gets a tour of Indian Creek Village from the Corcoran Group’s Julian Johnston, who shows why the world’s wealthiest are choosing to move into the ultra-exclusive neighborhood.
Weiss has seen a similar decline, arguing that California’s favorable climate may not be enough to sustain its real estate market, despite remaining optimistic about the dozens of fire victim households he’s helped relocate.
“We’ve had people say, ‘OK we’re going back,’ and then they started the construction process, and they said, ‘You know, I can’t do it. It’s too sad. It’s not the same community,’” Weiss reflected. “Very, very close clients of mine, who were fortunate enough to be able to buy another house, but were going to rebuild and they have a premier lot, have just this week decided that they’re not gonna rebuild… It is still tragic for people. People are healing and then processing, but it is very emotional.”
“I invite Mayor Bass or Gavin Newsom to [hop] right in my car and go sit in some of these families’ living rooms with me and see what they’re up against financially. I’ll be more than happy to sit down,” the agent added. “This isn’t just high-end problems.”
As Californians continue to grapple with Golden State affordability issues, Los Angeles County community leaders advocate for political change to rescue locals struggling under financial strain.
Mayor Karen Bass’ office did not respond to multiple interview requests from Fox News Digital. Though Gov. Newsom is not running for re-election this year, he has been publicly outspoken against the proposed billionaire tax and was reportedly left sick upon learning of his state’s wealth outmigration.
“I feel a great sense of loss and disappointment that I really can’t suggest to my daughters that they live in California. I think that it’s a very sad thing to see a place that, when I arrived in 1971, this was the place to be,” Kotkin said. “I think we’re eating our seed corn. We’re no longer this destination for talent from around the world the way we once were… Whether the California Dream is gone for good is, I still think it’s uncertain. But I think the state has to make some real changes. One, it’s got to move away from the current climate regime… Unless there’s some sort of major change, it will continue to become both the place of greatest wealth and of the most intense poverty. And I think that’s a tragedy and I think it’s a violation of what California is all about.”
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Rivani’s office on Michigan Avenue will be the new home to Playboy’s global HQ and the offices of “Shark Tank’s” Daymond John.
“Everyone always says to me, California has got to come back. Did Detroit ever come back? Did Minnesota ever come back?” Rivani said from his $100 million Class X office that’s preparing to open in Miami Beach. “Our gas price is half the cost of California. Our living prices are still cheaper than California, but most of all, whether you’re a low-income earner or a high-income earner, you pay zero income tax. That allows more money into your family’s pocket day-to-day.”
“I think this is just the beginning of Miami’s gold rush. I think it’s just the beginning of the gold rush of South Florida as a whole,” Rivani said. “There’s literally nothing that [California] could do that would ever make me want to invest in a state like that again, I mean, unless there is a complete upheaval of the financial beliefs of that economy, I just, I can’t do it.”
“Just call the U-Haul company, get your butt on the truck, and get your ass out here because you’re going to miss the gold rush.”
Vasily Zyryanov is an individual investor and writer.He uses various techniques to find both relatively underpriced equities with strong upside potential and relatively overappreciated companies that have inflated valuation for a reason.In his research, he pays much attention to the energy sector (oil & gas supermajors, mid-cap, and small-cap exploration & production companies, the oilfield services firms), while he also covers a plethora of other industries from mining and chemicals to luxury bellwethers.He firmly believes that apart from simple profit and sales analysis, a meticulous investor must assess Free Cash Flow and Return on Capital to gain deeper insights and avoid sophomoric conclusions.While he favors underappreciated and misunderstood equities, he also acknowledges that some growth stocks do deserve their premium valuation, and its an investor’s primary goal to delve deeper and uncover if the market’s current opinion is correct or not.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was up 1.2% at $4,209.03 per ounce, as of 0112 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August delivery fell 0.5% to $4,225.80.
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said good progress has been made during the quadrilateral talks in Switzerland, according to Iran’s Press TV.
Iran-U.S. peace talks in Switzerland stretched into their second day on Monday, after a tense opening marked by Tehran’s announcement it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Donald Trump repeating his threats to resume attacks on Iran.
Brent crude futures fell 0.5% after Iran claimed progress in peace talks, easing fears of elevated inflation and higher-for-longer global interest rates.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s emphasis on inflation in last week’s press conference, without any more-nuanced commentary about what might clear the bar for a rate hike, led investors to conclude an increase was coming soon and begin bidding up bond yields.
Most global brokerages are betting on the Fed to hold interest rates steady for the rest of 2026, reversing from expectations of two interest rate cuts at the start of the year, as policymakers navigate elevated inflation risks and a resilient labor market.
Gold demand was modest in India last week as prices fell to their lowest level in two-and-a-half months and remained volatile, while top consumer China flipped to a discount.
Swiss gold exports fell 9% in May from the previous month as lower shipments to India and Hong Kong offset higher deliveries to Britain and China, Swiss customs data showed.
Spot silver rose 2.6% to $66.60 per ounce, platinum gained 1.3% to $1,684.85, and palladium was up 1.5% at $1,276.88.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0100 China Loan Prime Rate 1Y,
5Y Jun 1400 EU Consumer Confid Flash Jun
Despite rising tensions, U.S.-Iran peace talks stretched into their second day in Switzerland under the terms of a memorandum of understanding reached last week to extend a ceasefire from April for at least another 60 days.
Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, said it was not surprising how quickly adherence to the terms of the deal had broken down. “Ultimately, what matters to markets is the flow of cargo through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Shipping data showed the number of ships that passed through the waterway fell sharply on Sunday after Tehran said it had closed the strait. That lifted oil prices with Brent crude futures climbing 1.30% to $81.62 a barrel. [O/R]
“The physical market remains tight and that should provide some support, but flows in FX and commodities, particularly gold, will continue to be heavily influenced by developments in the energy complex,” Weston said.
Sterling eased in early trading as traders assessed the political tumult in Britain, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer was considering his political future after rival Andy Burnham’s decisive election victory to parliament.
The pound was 0.24% weaker at $1.32055, while the euro softened 0.1% to $1.1462. The Australian dollar was last down 0.19% at $0.70035, while the New Zealand dollar last bought $0.573. Markets will be focused on Burnham’s views on fiscal policy and whether there will be any relaxation of the current fiscal rules, Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategists said.
“A loosening in fiscal rules would likely be poorly received by the UK bond market and weigh on pound,” they said in a note.
The Japanese yen slipped to 161.53 per dollar, hovering near a two-year low reached last week. A break beyond 161.96 would take the yen to its weakest level since 1986.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Monday that authorities were prepared to respond appropriately to currency moves at any time, reiterating their previous stance.
“The MOF may be getting sore necks watching USD/JPY surge into the 2024 high,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at StoneX. “Yet they may also feel powerless to do anything about it – as intervening against the tide of a hawkish Fed and strong U.S. fundamentals could prove costly and futile.”
The yen has erased gains made after a round of interventions from April 30, as a hawkish tilt by the Federal Reserve has led traders to ramp up bets on rate increases this year.
Treasuries remained under pressure on Monday with yields on 2-year notes rising to their highest since early 2025 at 4.2276%. Traders are anticipating 43 basis points of hikes this year with a 25 bp increase fully priced in by September.
The sector regulator has recalled refinancing support worth nearly Rs 500 crore —a punitive action that has set off a sweeping leadership overhaul at the company. ET was the first to report on April 13 that managing director and CEO Sachinder Bhinder was being asked to step down, with Manu Singh — former home loans head at Kotak Mahindra Bank — set to take over. A week later, on April 20, the company confirmed Bhinder’s resignation and Singh’s appointment as the new CEO.
The NHB’s investigation found that concessional refinance meant for SC/ST borrowers had been availed against loans where the borrowers did not belong to these categories.
Aavas Financiers sees top-level churn: CFO and CRO to exit, interim replacements named
Loans were also classified as disbursed in hilly areas even though the underlying properties were not located in such regions, and non-home loans had been misclassified as home loans to access preferential funding — a trifecta of classification failures that triggered the regulator’s action, sources said.
Aavas Financiers confirmed the NHB investigation, though it stopped short of acknowledging the specific findings.
“The NHB, in the ordinary course, conducts periodic audits and inspections of housing finance companies, including Aavas Financiers, and one such inspection is presently underway and has not yet been concluded,” the company said in a statement.The company added that it has not received any direction from NHB requiring it to repay any funding lines.
Sources, however, said the scale of the irregularities went well beyond what might be expected in a routine inspection.
Singapore-based fintech company Aleta aims to expand operations into India
“The regulator’s concerns were not limited to isolated instances. The inspection identified multiple cases where loans were categorised under refinance schemes that they were not eligible for, resulting in the withdrawal of refinance support and prompting a wider review of internal controls,” said a person aware of the development.
TOP EXECUTIVES TOLD TO RESIGN
CVC Capital Partners, which holds a majority stake of over 50% in Aavas Financiers, has shown the door to chief financial officer Ghanshyam Rawat and chief risk officer Ashutosh Atre in the wake of the NHB’s findings. Sources said both officials were asked to resign on June 15, though the disclosures were made only after a hastily called board meeting on June 21.
The company subsequently informed stock exchanges that it had appointed Ghanshyam Gupta as interim chief financial officer and Punit Purushottam Agarwal as interim chief risk officer, with effect from June 22.
The exits are the latest in a series of senior management departures that paint a troubling picture of how the company was conducting its business.
In the span of barely two months, Aavas Financiers has replaced its MD and CEO, CFO and CRO — an unprecedented churn at the top that reflects the depth of the crisis the company is navigating. Markets have also taken note of the turbulence. With a market capitalisation of approximately Rs 11,673 crore, the stock has declined nearly 32% from its 52-week high of Rs 2,152, trading at around Rs 1,472 — reflecting deepening investor concerns around governance, growth visibility and execution amid the ongoing management churn, according toexchange data.
Stocks rally in Asia as Iran cites progress in talks
Controversial changes to both the tax system and the NDIS are under negotiation as Labor tries to land a deal with the Greens before parliament breaks.
Motorists will benefit as a cut to fuel taxes is extended for another month, although at half the previous discount.
The combined market cap of the two companies of the RIL group is expected to be around ₹32 trillion. It will nearly match the current combined market value of ₹33 trillion for HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank.
At present, the market cap of the companies listed on the BSE is nearly ₹478 trillion. For the Nifty 50 set of companies, the market cap is ₹194 trillion, which implies that the RIL group’s market cap will be over 16% of the benchmark index’s market value.
AgenciesGroup share of BSE’s m-cap to rise to nearly 7%, and almost match combined value of HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel & ICICI Bank
Globally, Elon Musk promoted Tesla and SpaceX together account for nearly 5% of the total market cap of the US companies. After a strong debut on Nasdaq on June 12, SpaceX commands a market cap of $2.4 trillion, while Tesla’s is $1.3 trillion. The market cap of listed companies in the US is over $77 trillion, according to the data from Bloomberg.
Internationally, technology led companies have been driving overall market valuations to record levels. For instance, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the top South Korean companies based on market value, account for nearly 50% of the country’s market cap. In the case of Taiwan, chip maker TSMC contributes over 40% to the country’s market cap.
With crude oil prices falling, would growth be better than the central bank forecast? If yes, then do you think that the need to hike rates is lesser?
Yes, RBI growth and inflation forecasts were based, among other assumptions, on crude oil prices averaging $95 / barrel, which, based on oil futures, now appear likely to be lower. However, disruptions in supply chains could persist for some time, and hence it is difficult to predict the extent of growth recovery in FY27.
The MPC minutes have said that second-order input cost transmission getting embedded in retail inflation will have to be monitored. What would be the first signs visible via data that would suggest visible impact?
Second order effects are likely to manifest in core (non-food and fuel) CPI components, particularly in underlying components (excluding precious metals), indicating the extent of higher input cost pass through to retail inflation. However, it is difficult to forecast second order effects of higher input costs, which will depend on demand elasticities, input substitution and other pass through variables.The RBI Governor’s statement noted a revised FY27 core inflation at 4.7%, up from 4.4% at the April review, and headline at 5.1%, up from 4.6%. Factoring in price trends in other components, it might be possible to estimate specific inflation components.
Are current financial conditions already restrictive enough that a rate hike is unnecessary?
Although the policy repo rate is currently only 15 basis points above the FY27 forecast CPI inflation, money market and short term interest rates remain higher. RBI has also maintained system liquidity at appropriate levels. In addition, the gap between the repo rate and longer term bond yields have also risen much beyond steady state levels. Although MPC quarter wise forecasts of CPI inflation peaks in Q3 FY27, close to the upper band of the target, underlying inflation remains much lower and there are little signs of the economy overheating.
Have conditions eased after the FCNR(B) and ECB packages? Would strong inflows from these schemes reduce the need for any future monetary tightening?
Prima facie, the expected foreign currency inflows will add to autonomous domestic liquidity if even some of the inflows are absorbed by the central bank to replenish its foreign currency reserves. However, financial conditions will depend on RBI’s system liquidity management.Can it be said that growth is a bigger concern for the RBI in the current scenario, especially since inflation is projected at 5.1% and the repo rate is at 5.25%?
At the time of the MPC review, there were risks to both inflation and growth. While high frequency indicators suggested continuing resilience, they indicated a loss of momentum. This was the reason FY27 GDP forecast was a lower 6.6%, compared to the then FY26 estimate of 7.6%.
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