MIAMI — For years, wealthy New Yorkers have quietly traded Manhattan winters for South Florida sunshine. In 2026, that migration has taken on a new political edge, as billionaires, executives and public figures weigh their futures in New York under Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Real estate brokers in Miami and Palm Beach say inquiries from New York buyers have surged since Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the mayor's race in November 2025 on a platform that included higher taxes on the wealthy. Florida officials have openly courted those buyers.

"We welcome millionaires and billionaires and good quality employers creating good jobs," Kelly Smallridge, CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, told WLRN. "We are not trying to run them out like New York is."

Here is a look at some of the best-known names who have left New York for Florida, or deepened their ties to the state, along with the numbers behind the trend.

The billionaire founder of Related Companies, the developer behind Manhattan's Hudson Yards, has relocated from New York to Florida, according to the New York Post, as reported by Fox Business this year.

Ross, who owns the Miami Dolphins, has long had deep business ties to South Florida, where Related has pursued major development projects in West Palm Beach.

The Citadel founder moved his hedge fund's headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022, but his clash with Mamdani made........

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