Escape from New York!
With the prospect of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the upcoming New York City mayoral election inching closer to reality, Wall Street’s already cracked foundation is about to crumble. As the Wall Street Journal reported the day after last Tuesday’s primary election:
“Mamdani’s platform includes increasing taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. He has said he would make the city more affordable by freezing rents on rent-stabilized apartments, investing $70 billion in publicly subsidized housing, providing free bus service and opening government-operated grocery stores…
… There were renewed questions about whether Wall Street executives would stay in New York or if Mamdani’s plans for the city would send more financiers to states such as Florida and Texas. Some executives cited concerns about taxes and crime under a potential Mamdani administration as well as fears of rising antisemitism.”
“Wall Street Panics Over Prospect of a Socialist Running New York City,” Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2025
It’s time for Wall Street to move to Y’all Street.
For years, the center of gravity in the financial universe has been shifting out of New York, with Texas becoming one of the major winners.
In fact, Texas is home to regional headquarters for both the NYSE and NASDAQ, and soon the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) will open. BlackRock just opened its first state-based Texas ETF (TEXN), comprised of 200 Texas-based companies. Texas is cementing our place at the forefront of global finance. Just ask JPMorgan Chase – which now employs more Texans than New Yorkers – and Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab.
Having recently completed one of the most pro-business Legislative sessions in history, including landmark corporate governance laws and ballot initiatives to constitutionally bar taxes on stock transactions and capital gains — Texas has built a tax and regulatory environment to make the Lone Star State the global capital for finance.
Texas is open for business, earning Chief Executive’s Best State for Business award for 21 years in a row, and Site Selection’s Governor’s Cup for a record 13 years in a row.
Texas proudly welcomes Wall Street asylum-seekers among the hundreds of other relocating headquarters that have flocked to our state, which Governor Greg Abbott calls the ‘Headquarters of Headquarters.’
As a boy from the Bronx who now advocates for Texas businesses, I can tell you that Texas represents the future of global finance.
NYC is, sadly, yesterday’s news.
–Glenn Hamer, President & CEO, Texas Association of Business
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