Starbucks founder Howard Schultz joins the growing list of billionaires moving to Florida — a move that is quickly becoming a trend. In past two months alone, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sergey Brin, former Google CEO Larry Page, and now Howard Schultz have announced their migration to Miami.
Schultz has lived in Seattle since 1979, where he built Starbucks into a global brand. The billionaire says he’s making the move in order to pursue his next adventure.
“We [Schultz and his wife, Sheri Schultz] have moved to Miami for our next adventure together. We are enjoying the sunshine of South Florida and its allure to our kids on the East Coast as they raise families of their own,” he explained.
After 44 years in Seattle, Schultz — worth $6.6 billion — will settle into a $44 million penthouse at the Surf Club, Four Seasons Private Residences in Surfside, about fifteen miles from Miami. The five bedroom penthouse is 5,500 square feet and has a rooftop terrace. While his nonprofit, the Schultz Family Foundation, will remain in Seattle, his family office will relocate with him.
Schultz’s announced his decision on the same day that the Washington State House of Representatives approved a new millionaire tax. The measure passed 52-46 on Wednesday and advanced to the Senate. If it passes, Washington will lose its status as one of the nine states without an income tax. The legislation would impose a 9.9% tax on income for earners making above $1 million. Washington policymakers argue that only 0.5% of tax payers would be subject to the new levy.
State Rep. Ed Orcutt, one of the 46 legislators who voted against the bill said, “The problem is overspending. There is no tax or combination of taxes that can keep up with a legislature that continually overspends revenue.”
Schultz did not mention the tax in his announcement, much like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos did not mention the Washington State 7% capital gains tax — on sales of stocks and bonds exceeding $250,000 — when he decided in 2023 to leave Seattle for Miami. Like Schultz, Bezos cited only personal reasons.
In recent years, a growing number of CEOS have relocated from blue to red states. But while Schultz is moving to a red state, his political views lean left. In 2019, during a media tour for a potential 2020 Presidential run, Schultz said, “I should be paying more taxes. And more people who make this kind of revenue, and are of means, should be paying more taxes.”
That same night, Schultz also said, “No one wants to see him [Donald Trump] fired more than me.”
Starbucks is also relocating to the south — and to a red state as well. The company announced the move to Nashville, Tennessee, in the beginning of March describing it as part of a broader plan to expand across North America and “establish a strategic presence in the Southeast region of the United States.”
Justin Owen, the President & CEO of the think tank, Beacon Center of Tennessee, welcomed the decision.
“We welcome all businesses to the free state of Tennessee. We encourage them to remember and embrace why they came here: our low tax, low regulation, pro-worker freedom environment,” Owen said.
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