Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel recently expressed his concerns about relocating his operations from Silicon Valley to Florida, citing the rising housing costs in the Sunshine State as a major obstacle, a recent Bloomberg noted. During a podcast interview on Honestly with Bari Weiss, Thiel pointed out that buying a house in Miami today requires paying four times as much for a monthly mortgage as it did three years ago – a significant increase that has put a damper on many tech professionals' plans to migrate to the region.
Furthermore, an analysis from Bloomberg revealed that the number of million-dollar ZIP codes in the Miami area has more than doubled since the end of 2019 through 2022, as the region experiences a surge in demand for luxury properties. Thiel had once discussed moving to Los Angeles to escape the political hegemony of the San Francisco Bay area, but the housing boom in Florida seems to have minimized the allure of the state as a more affordable alternative to the tech-centric region.
Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel says he's reluctant to move his operations to Florida from Silicon Valley because housing prices have soared https://t.co/e7SKNuBrt4
— Bloomberg (@business) May 4, 2023
While talking about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Thiel encouraged him to focus more on addressing economic inequality and less on issues related to gender identity and race, saying that the high cost of living in Florida is more of a pressing problem for its residents, which cannot be offset by fighting "wokeness" or even reducing taxes. However, Thiel also stated that he would support DeSantis if he were to become the Republican nominee for the presidency in 2024.
Thiel's concerns about the increasing cost of living in Florida are not unfounded: tech professionals, venture capitalists, and other business owners have been eyeing the state for a possible relocation, hoping to benefit from the state's tax incentives and comparatively lower regulatory barriers. Yet the increased demand for housing has pushed prices up, making it difficult for many to make the move.
Meanwhile, Thiel has been critical of Silicon Valley as well, calling it a "one-party state" characterized by groupthink and a lack of true innovation, per this Fortune article. Thiel believes that the same network effects that made the region a hub for groundbreaking technology have now hindered its ability to produce truly transformative ideas. Thiel no longer sees the Bay Area as an ideal place to invest and has already closed up shop in Silicon Valley, opting to move his home and offices to Los Angeles and shift his venture firm Mithril Capital to Austin, Texas instead.
