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California millionaires flock to Florida ‘within seven days’ to escape looming wealth tax
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Florida famously has no state income tax for residents who live there for at least 183 days during the year, but Johnston explained what South Florida offers other tax havens like Texas, Tennessee and Nevada can’t match.
“I think you have to look at the culture between these VC companies and the tech guys, that they like to stay together… They have already moved here, some of them are already here or have a place to live here, they will spend a lot of time and they will have a multiplier effect on their friends who will spend time with them,” he said.
“Miami lives an outdoor life like California,” Johnston continued to argue. “I think the climate suits them. I think there’s a lot of security here. Politically it’s safe and economically, I mean, two of the biggest capital projects in the country right now are in Miami.”
The ‘Big Money Show’ panel reacts to the billionaires fleeing California as the wealth tax proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom sparks backlash and red-country migration.
Beyond real estate, California’s billionaires know they’re taking investment money — and that lawmakers may not fully understand how mobile wealth has become.
“That was a conversation between some of them [in] lunch house. They were talking about the fact that, [if] enough for them to move, it’s actually going to create change,” Johnston said. “It’s going to financially change the state of the state budget… And they want changes… they want changes before they back down.”
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Throughout his 25-year career in luxury goods, Johnston admits that the current wave of migration feels unique in terms of the scale of wealth and the speed with which high-net-worth individuals are seeking to move away from the West Coast.
“I think Florida has good immigration in the next 20 years… it’s a booming city,” he said. “Those big companies are going to push the state to spend a lot of money on jobs and things and bring a lot of people from around the world that haven’t been to Miami before, because I think [city of the future] of America.”
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