David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar has now made another bold prediction. Sacks feels that time has come when Miami can replace New York as America’s financial capital and Austin could also dethrone San Francisco as the tech hub. In a post shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Sacks argued, “As a response to socialism, Miami will replace NYC as the finance capital and Austin will replace SF as the tech capital.” The comments made by Sacks has once again reignited the debate across tech and venture capitalist circles drawing support from contrarians skeptical of coastal dominance.The idea of Miami and Austin supplanting New York and San Francisco is not new. During the time of the pandemic, remote work led to migration to Texas and Florida as both the places are driven by lower taxes, cheaper living costs and more spaces. Austin gained a lot of importance due to the relocation of Tesla and Oracle. Along with these two companies, tech giants Google and Facebook also expanded their footprints. Sacks has long argued that high taxes, heavy regulation, and leftward politics are pushing talent and capital out of legacy centers. His latest comments coincided with the inauguration of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s first socialist mayor, a symbolic backdrop to his prediction.
David Sacks’ own move
Cratf Ventures, David Sacks’ own firm has already opened an office in Austin and Sacks himself is relocated there. With this relocation, Sacks joins the group of high-profile tech leaders including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Dell CEO Michael Dell and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale, who have embraced Texas as a new innovation hub.On the other hand, recently, Thiel Capital, founded by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, announced it is expanding in Miami, underscoring the city’s growing appeal as California considers a wealth tax that could hit billionaires retroactively in 2026.
The tax that’s got billionaires running for the exit
The wealth tax proposal, pushed by healthcare union SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, would retroactively apply to anyone living in California on January 1, 2026. That means billionaires have just hours to establish residency elsewhere if they want to avoid it. For Page, whose net worth stands at roughly $258 billion, the tax bill could exceed $12 billion. Thiel, worth about $27.5 billion, would face a tab of more than $1.2 billion.The measure needs enough signatures to reach the November 2026 ballot, but some wealthy Californians aren’t willing to gamble. Tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya warned the tax would trigger “an exodus of the state’s most talented entrepreneurs,” adding he’s giving “serious consideration” to moving to Texas.