Another Wall Street Giant Is Plotting Its Escape From Mamdani's New York City: Report

It looks like Citadel isn’t the only Wall Street giant looking for the exits as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) continues his commie Robinhood thing on the city’s richest.

Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino reported Wednesday that the Manhattan-headquartered private equity giant Apollo is preparing to establish what insiders describe as a “second headquarters” in either Florida or Texas. A formal announcement on the location is expected within weeks.

The move would build on Apollo’s earlier internal memo to employees signaling plans for significant future growth outside its longtime New York base, amid a broader migration of financial firms toward business-friendly states in the South.

Gasparino reports:

The new outpost could eventually become home to as many as 1,000 employees over time – in line with Apollo’s current headcount in New York, the sources said. The buyout firm currently employs more than 6,000 worldwide.

Apollo paid a whopping $1.276 billion in income taxes in 2025, up from $1.062 billion the year before. While filings don’t break down how much of that went to the Big Apple, the city stands to lose a hefty revenue stream as the firm looks to expand elsewhere.

Apollo – headed by billionaire CEO Marc Rowan – is currently scouting out space in Miami and in Palm Beach, where Apollo already has a small presence, according to the sources. In Texas, office space in Austin is also under consideration, the insiders said.

News of Apollo’s plans come after billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said Mamdani’s push for higher taxes on second homes has reinforced his firm's commitment to Miami - and even led the firm to scale up its planned headquarters there.

During a Tuesday interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Griffin confirmed that Citadel decided to enlarge its Miami office project after Mamdani publicly referenced his $238 million Central Park South penthouse while promoting a new pied-à-terre tax proposal.

“We went to Miami and revised our building plan to make it a bigger office building,” the high-profile investor said. “What the mayor of New York has made clear to my partners, and principally my New York partners, is that we need to double down on our bet in Miami.”

Griffin also said he watched Mamdani’s video three times, branding it “creepy and weird.”

The Citadel boss added that the situation brought back memories of his departure from Chicago, where he previously criticized local leadership before moving Citadel and Citadel Securities to Florida.

“Looking at what Mamdani did to me and more broadly is doing to the city of New York is triggering the trauma I went through in Chicago,” he explained.

Griffin’s announcement is part of “a troubling pattern taking shape” in the Big Apple, according to Steve Fulop, who leads the pro-business lobby organization. Partnership for New York City.

“The solution is that the administration needs to have a real pro-business agenda that has support of the broader business corporate community,” Fulop told Gasparino. “We haven’t seen this yet and there is a sense of urgency to getting this going. It is a competitive landscape and without a strategy companies will look to more friendly places.”