West Palm Beach is Minting New Millionaires at a World-Class Rate
Bottom Line: In recent years West Palm Beach has become referred to as Wall Street South. As I first reported June 16th of 2021… Blackstone Group, Citadel Advisors, Elliott Capital Management, Goldman Sachs, Ichan Enterprises, Moelis, Virtu Financial. A Wall Street’s who’s who of firms. The elite of the elite. And all of which are now part of South Florida’s story. And all that’s happened in the nearly two years since I first reported on South Florida’s success in attracting top financial companies to our area, is that it’s proliferated. And it’s apropos for what we’ve seen play out in our area over the past ten years. Massive wealth creation. The United States stock market, as I often characterize it, is the greatest wealth creation machine in the history of the world. Simply put, the democratized access to invest in growing companies has allowed regular investors to participate in the growth creating unprecedented wealth among an unprecedented number of people. Now, what’s happened in our area over the past decade isn’t a direct result of the Palm Beaches becoming “Wall Street South”, though the two are connected.
A just released report by Henley & Partners entitled: The Wealthiest Cities in the World in 2023 produced one of the most eye opening and revealing factoids about the maturation of the economy throughout the Palm Beaches. While New York City remains on top of the world for the highest total number of millionaires – with 340,000 – it's Wall Street South’s West Palm Beach metro that’s been the 4th fastest growing in the world for millionaires over the past ten years – with 90% more millionaires in West Palm Beach today than a decade ago. In fact, 20% of West Palm Beaches’ households are now millionaires. That compares to New York City which has produced new millionaires at less than half the rate that we have, 40%, over the same time. In the United States, only Austin, Texas – which has benefitted the most from the tech firm mass migration away from California, has created millionaires at a faster rate than we have.
If growing your personal wealth is a priority, there’s literally almost no other place in the world where you’re as likely to have success as right here at home, right now. And with the continued success of transplanting Wall Street firms to our area, there’s every reason to believe the trend will continue.