The Billionaire Exodus to Miami

Google co-founder Larry Page is the most recent billionaire to make national headlines, purchasing 2 Coconut Grove properties totaling $188 million according to The New York Post. The move comes amid California’s proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act which would impose a one-time 5% levy on the net worth of residents with assets over $1 billion. As a result, many of the state’s other tech billionaires have also been on the hunt for prime Miami real estate as they look to start moving assets to Florida. The New York Post also reported that Whatsapp founder Jan Koum, Netflix founder Reed Hastings and fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin have all been quietly searching. 

Page first purchased the estate of late Miami restaurateur and philanthropist Jonathan Lewis for $101.5M in late December, beating the January 1st deadline for the new California tax law. The property sits on 4.5 acres of prime Coconut Grove land within the exclusive gated communities of Hughes Cove/Anchorage. According to Redfin, the transaction marks the fourth most expensive home sale in the U.S. last year. He followed the purchase of Banyan Ridge a few days later, scooping up a modern waterfront property just a stone’s throw away for $71.9M along with a third $15M at the beginning of January. Coconut Grove continues to attract Miami transplants, sought-after for its lush tropical landscapes, prime waterfront location just 10 minutes south of Brickell & Downtown and charming village center filled with a multitude of restaurants, boutique shops and picturesque parks. 

Silicon Valley’s tech titans are not the only elite to make the move to the Magic City. Since Ken Griffin announced his plans to relocate the Citadel headquarters from Chicago to Miami, the billionaire hedge fund manager has spent over $275.9M on prime residential real estate ranging from a historic waterfront compound just south of Brickell to 7 parcels on the ultra-exclusive Star Island, according to Robb Report. He also set records in Miami’s bustling and growing financial district with the acquisition of commercial property & waterfront land totaling $363 million, and most recently, made headlines again with a $180M purchase of another office building in Miami’s trendy Wynwood neighborhood. Griffin has cited safety concerns in Chicago for his move to Miami, calling Chicago a “failed city-state” during 2025’s American Business Forum.

In 2023, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made the move from Seattle and has since scooped up 3 of the most rare properties in South Florida totaling a reported $237 million in one of the country’s most secure and exclusive enclaves: Indian Creek aptly nicknamed “Billionaire Bunker.”

Whether they’re seeking a safer environment, a tax haven, or to simply protect their assets, Miami and South Florida continue to attract the world’s billionaires to its sunny, tropical shores. Discover the Miami neighborhoods where the wealthy continue to search for prized residential real estate:

Regarded as one of the most affluent areas in the U.S., Coral Gables is a historic and picturesque planned community dating back to the Florida land boom of the 1920’s and spanning more than 37 square miles just west and south of the city of Miami. Today, the Gables waterfront is lined with some of the most exclusive and prestigious gated communities in the state showcasing one-of-a-kind estates overlooking the shoreline of Biscayne Bay. In fact, local billionaire and Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas just purchased a prestigious waterfront mansion within Gables Estates for $32 million where he’ll join notable neighbors such as the Weeknd and Pharrell Williams.

Other notable neighborhoods:

- Cocoplum
- Old Cutler Bay
- Gables by the Sea
- Snapper Creek Lakes

The site of Page’s newsworthy transactions, Coconut Grove is Miami’s oldest enclave, arguably the original “Millionaire’s Row” dating back to the early 20th century, and today home to some of the most expensive and prestigious real estate in the city both within guarded-gated communities and along discrete tropical streets. Coconut Grove is sought-after for its lush tropical landscapes, charming village center and architectural diversity ranging from iconic historic estates to cutting-edge modern mansions.

Discover Coconut Grove’s Most Prestigious Neighborhoods:

- Hughe’s Cove
- The Moorings
- Four Way Lodge Estates
- Ye Little Wood
- Camp Biscayne

And Groundbreaking Luxury New Developments

- Four Seasons 
- Vita Grove Isle

Arguably the most exclusive and secure private island in the United States and nicknamed “Billionaire Bunker”, Indian Creek is home to just 41 waterfront properties meaning availability is few and far between. The 300-acre island is connected by one singular bridge and protected by its own police force patrolling land and water. Each home is seemingly connected to a famous face with notable residents including Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, David Guetta, and Jeff Bezos.

Learn more about Indian Creek here.

Another equally exclusive and prestigious private island, Star Island is a guard-gated, residential-only island floating between Miami Beach’s famous South of Fifth and mainland Miami’s urban core of Downtown and Brickell. Created during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920’s by Miami Beach founding father Carl Fisher, the roughly 86-acre island today holds just 34 waterfront estates with past and present ties to some of the most famous faces and prominent businessmen in the world including Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan, Shaquille O’Neill, Vlad Doronin and now Ken Griffin. 

Learn more about Star Island here.