Sylvester Stallone is one of several celebrities who have relocated to Florida. Ian Gavan/Getty
Wealthy buyers and celebrities are increasingly choosing Florida for its tax benefits and weather.
Athletes like Tom Brady and stars like Scott Baio are establishing themselves in the Sunshine State.
The growth of the tech population is having a major impact on the housing market in the South.
Florida's low income tax and favorable weather have always made it an attractive destination for relocating. Celebrities have flocked to the state for vacations and second homes, but in recent years, more and more luxury home buyers are set to settle in the state permanently.
For example, superstar athlete Lionel Messi moved to Florida after leaving Barcelona, and actors like Sylvester Stallone, one of many Hollywood stars who left California, have also chosen Florida as their new home.
While international celebrities moving in isn't all that surprising, a new generation of movers is also emerging: ultra-wealthy business and tech luminaries.
During the pandemic, Miami has sought to position itself as tech's Third Coast after San Francisco and New York, successfully attracting big name companies, from startup founders to investment firm CEOs.
The reshuffling of wealth has made some areas more popular than they were before, with Florida in particular emerging as a desirable place to live for the wealthy.
Business Insider has compiled a list of 14 celebrities and businessmen who left different parts of the country to start themselves, and in some cases, businesses, in sunny Florida, listed alphabetically by last name.
Scott Baio moved to Florida because of California's homelessness problem.
Scott Baio. Getty
The actor, who has appeared in “Happy Days” and “Charles in Charge,” posted to X in May 2023 that he would be leaving California after 45 years, citing the homeless problem in Los Angeles County.
“Florida is pretty much the same as America was 50 years ago,” Baio told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo a few weeks after the post, “just packed together. Everything is open, everything is free, and everyone I meet is so kind.”
After becoming the owner of a Major League Soccer team, David Beckham bought a huge condominium in Miami.
David Beckham. Getty/Clive Marsland
Retired soccer great David Beckham has been spending more and more time in Miami lately.
He and his wife, Victoria Beckham, purchased the five-bedroom mansion, which comes with a pool and a rooftop helipad, for $24 million in 2020. The couple moved to Miami after Beckham became co-owner and president of Major League Soccer's Inter Miami CF.
“Miami is the gateway to the Americas and welcomes people from all over the world. Inter Miami CF was founded to bring world class football to this world class city,” Beckham wrote on his website about his interest in owning Inter Miami.
Jeff Bezos left the tech capital of Seattle for the more laid-back city of Miami.
Jeff Bezos. David Ryder/Stringer
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought a $68 million mansion on Biscayne Bay in August 2023. Two months later, he bought a seven-bedroom home next door for $79 million. In April, he bought another property in Florida, this time for $90 million.
Bezos said he was moving to Miami from Seattle, where the aerospace company he founded, Blue Origin, is headquartered, to be closer to his parents and the company's operations.
“I've lived in Seattle longer than anywhere else and have so many great memories,” Bezos said in an Instagram post. “The move is an exciting but emotional decision for me.”
Tom Brady has been living in Florida since winning the Super Bowl with Tampa Bay.
Tom Brady. Nick Antaya/UFL/Getty
Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and won a Super Bowl with the team before retiring from the NFL in 2023, and has remained in Florida since then.
First, during his time with the Buccaneers, he was married to Gisele Bundchen and lived in a 1.2-acre mansion (formerly owned by Derek Jeter).
Following his divorce, he moved to Miami, where, according to photos he shared on Instagram, the bachelorette home features floor-to-ceiling windows, indoor and outdoor living spaces with a fireplace and a pool.
“I'm a California native for a long time, and I've been away for about 25 years, and you don't really see me in the Northeast anymore,” Brady said of his time with the New England Patriots in 2020. “I love the warm weather, and it feels great.”
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has relocated his family and business to South Florida.
Ken Griffin. Apu Gomez via Getty Images
Ken Griffin founded his investment firm Citadel in Chicago in 1990 but later left the Windy City for warmer weather in Miami.
Griffin has not only relocated his firm, which manages about $58 billion in assets, to Florida, but he's also relocated himself: He plans to build a $1 billion office space at Citadel's new headquarters, and he's spared no expense on his own residence.
In 2022, Griffin purchased the waterfront property for more than $106 million, breaking the previous record (which he set himself the previous year when he bought a home on Star Island for $75 million).
Karlie Kloss and Jared Kushner have left Manhattan for South Florida.
Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Josh Kushner, a venture capitalist and Jared Kushner's brother, left Manhattan in 2020 and bought a $23.5 million estate in Miami Beach.
Kushner and his wife, model Karlie Kloss, moved into an eight-bedroom, 14,000-square-foot mansion on a beachfront estate.
Kushner and Kloss purchased another property in Manhattan in 2021, according to Architectural Digest, but property records show they still own their Miami Beach home.
When Lionel Messi is not playing for Inter Miami CF, he spends his time at his Fort Lauderdale mansion.
Lionel Messi. Chandan Khanna/Getty Images
Three years after buying the team, David Beckham acquired arguably the best soccer player in the world.
Lionel Messi has signed a contract to play for Inter Miami CF until 2023, but when he's not on the pitch he's living in a $10.75 million waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale.
The 10,500-square-foot, two-story home has 10 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two piers and 170 feet of waterfront, according to the Miami Herald.
“It's been very easy, very easy,” Messi said of adapting to his new surroundings in Miami during a press conference in 2023. “We were sure that we wanted to come here and thanks to the people at the club, the people we see every day on the streets and this great city, it's very easy and happy to live here.”
Adam Newman has established himself in Florida and is leaving big footprints.
Adam Newman. Jackal Pan/Visual China Group via Getty Images
In 2021, WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann Bay Area complex, $22.4 million And he bought two properties in Miami.
Newman purchased two adjacent properties totaling 50,000 square feet. $44 millionThe waterfront property is located in Bal Harbour Marina, an upscale area of Miami Beach.
Larry Robbins has left New York for Florida but plans to continue commuting for work.
Larry Robbins. Adam Jeffery/Getty Images
Billionaire hedge fund manager Larry Robbins is leaving New York City, but he's not taking his company with him.
Robbins, CEO of Glenview Capital Management, purchased a home in Palm Beach Gardens in early 2024 for $13.9 million, according to The Real Deal.
Robbins will keep the fund in New York and commute to work, unlike other executives who are relocating their operations, Bloomberg reported.
Judge Judy Sheindlin has lived in Florida for many years, and even hurricanes have not changed her life there.
Judge Judy receives the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards. Richard Shotwell/InVision via AP Images
Judge Judy Sheindlin has been enjoying the Sunshine State for some time now. She and her husband have lived in Naples for many years.
They once owned an 8,550-square-foot mansion with two private elevators and a sauna, but put it on the market in 2015.
She then moved to a 10,000-square-foot mansion overlooking a manmade lake about a mile away.
A month after Hurricane Ian struck Florida in 2022, causing devastation, Sheindlin told “Good Morning America” that she lost several cars to the storm, but that it wasn't going to stop her from returning to Florida.
“We said goodbye to a few cars that ended up in the water,” she said, “but generally speaking, we've been luckier than most people in Florida, and we're hopeful we'll be back before the end of the season.”
Sylvester Stallone is enjoying married life in the Sunshine State now that the kids are grown.
Sylvester Stallone. Jason Merritt/Staff
After living in Los Angeles for decades, the famous actor moved to Florida in 2023.
The move comes as season two of his reality show, “The Stallone Family,” is set to air in early 2024.
“After long and hard consideration, your mother and I have decided that it is time to leave California for good and go to Florida,” Stallone told his children. “We're going to sell this house.”
Stallone and his wife, Jennifer Flavin, cited multiple reasons for the move, including a desire for a fresh start after their children left home.
Howard Stern is enjoying life on his oceanfront estate in Palm Beach.
Howard Stern. Kevin Mazur
The legendary shock jock has been rocking it out in the Hamptons for decades, and now he's doing the same in Florida.
Stern purchased the sprawling 20,000-square-foot oceanfront estate in Palm Beach in 2013 for a reported $52 million.
The property is so popular that rumors circulated in April that Jeff Bezos had purchased Stern's mansion for $300 million, but Page Six later reported that the rumors were false and that Stern had even told the billionaire that the property wasn't for sale.
“New York is the center of the world,” Stern told listeners of his show in 2015. “Why don't people just move to Florida and create New York there? I don't understand.”
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have left Washington DC and landed in Miami Beach.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump attend the 73rd NBA All-Star Game. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner reportedly purchased an oceanfront estate on Indian Creek Island for $30 million in December 2020. Indian Creek Island is a gated community that is home to a small number of celebrities.
When they purchased the property, it was advertised as a “home in need of repairs,” and they spent years renovating it.
After leaving Washington, D.C., and before moving to their new home, the couple rented a condo tower called Arte Tower in Surfside, Florida, about a mile from their home.
