Ken Griffin and Stephen Ross fund $10M campaign to relocate CEOs to business-friendly Florida
Florida business leaders have launched a new national campaign aimed at attracting more CEOs, founders and investors to South Florida, positioning the region as one of the best places in the country to build and scale a company as rising costs and regulatory pressures increase in traditional business locations.
On Tuesday, the Florida Council of 100 – with the support of Citadel founder Ken Griffin and Related Companies founder Stephen Ross – announced the “Ambition Accelerated” plan, which will include advertising and branding aimed at encouraging decision makers to build or move to South Florida, from West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale to Miami.
“When you choose to build a business is what determines how much time is spent on growth versus bureaucracy,” Griffin said in a press release. “Miami and the broader South Florida Gold Coast offer deep talent, regulatory clarity and an extraordinary quality of life. These are not afterthoughts; they are the foundations of long-term success, and their impact compounds over time.”
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Griffin and Ross donated $10 million to start the campaign. Both are billionaire executives who founded their firms in blue-chip hometowns and have openly supported Florida’s business-friendly environment in recent years.
“Generations ago, there were a limited number of American cities where companies could find opportunities and build at scale,” Ross said in the release. “That’s why I started my career building my businesses in those cities. But to me, it’s clear that the next generation of companies is on the Gold Coast of Florida from West Palm Beach to Miami.”
“The region offers a clear competitive advantage – a strong work environment, a thriving innovation ecosystem and community leadership that works constructively with the private sector,” he continued. “This combination of factors helps companies based on Florida’s Gold Coast outperform competitors elsewhere.”
The campaign aims to reach business executives with national advertising and targeted messaging in hubs such as New York, Chicago, California cities and the greater Northeast. According to the Florida Council, some of the ads may ask questions like, “What if you could rate in a high GDP growth metro?” or “What if your business could reduce service costs by 30%?”
Florida is widely known for having no state income tax, but the Council also points out that the state has become the second lowest state for business regulation per capita in the US – and remains at or above the national level for GDP growth, new business formation, talent attraction and higher education programs.
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As the campaign continues, interested managers can reach out to the Florida Council of 100 for concierge discussions and relocation or expansion guidance. The Council also said it plans to make its own direct contact with CEOs across America.
“All CEOs are making the same decisions right now – where can we hire, where can we be efficient, and where can we scale with confidence,” said Florida Council of 100 President and CEO Mike Simas. “Florida’s Gold Coast answers those questions better than anywhere in the country, and this campaign is about putting those benefits directly in front of leaders who are deciding where to build next.”
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