Howard Schultz is the latest billionaire to bite the West Coast dust.
The former Starbucks CEO — worth $6.6 billion, according to Bloomberg — is leaving Seattle, his home of 44 years, for Miami, he wrote on a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.
“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 said.
Schultz, who transformed Starbucks from a local coffee chain to a global retailer, stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2023. Their nonprofit, the Schultz Family Foundation, will continue operating from Seattle, while his family office will relocate to Miami, he said.
The announcement came the same day that the Washington state House of Representatives approved a new millionaire tax. The bill proposes a 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million. It still has to pass the state’s Senate and be signed into law.
Schultz’s move follows that of several wealthy Californians who have purchased homes in the Sunshine State.
Over the past few months, entities tied to Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin purchased homes in Miami, spending more than $180 million and $50 million, respectively. This month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg broke Miami records by buying a home on Indian Creek for $170 million.
The three centibillionaires purchased their homes amid a proposed wealth tax in California that, if passed, would subject residents with a net worth of more than $1 billion to a one-time 5% tax on their wealth.
Luxury real estate in Miami neighborhoods like Indian Creek and Coconut Grove has reached new heights of late, real estate agents recently told Business Insider.
“The market ceiling keeps rising,” Ana Bozovic, a founder of Analytics Miami, told Business Insider about prime waterfront neighborhoods.
She doesn’t see it slowing down anytime soon: “The influx of billionaires from California,” she said, will likely add to the “escalation of the market.”
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