How Palm Beach became Wall Street South

Palm Beach, Florida

Palm Beach is now, officially, “Wall Street South.” So says the local Business Development Board, which adds that no fewer than 250 financial firms have relocated here in the years since the pandemic. Among the companies included are BlackRock, Citadel, Siris Capital, Goldman Sachs and Elliott Investment Management.

Also, a number of medical device manufacturing firms have been attracted – these include Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Synthes, Precision Esthetics and Modernizing Medicine, along with a strong aerospace sector – Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky Helicopters, Northrop Grumman.

While the weather is an important factor, especially with young people keen on sports, there is no personal state income tax here and no corporate income tax on limited partnerships. According to the Board, these firms have added 74,000 new jobs to the area at an average salary of $101,829 and contribute, in all, nearly $10 billion to the local economy.

Though it is well known that some 57 billionaires have chosen Palm Beach as their home, less well known is the equally impressive number of millionaires here – 70,000. Should I say “impressive?” When I pointed this out to a local, her only comment was, “Well, a million’s not a lot, is it?”

Covid was an important driver of the new Palm Beach life in other ways, too. The local newspaper, Palm Beach Daily News (“the Shiny Sheet”), has just marked the fifth anniversary of Covid in the way that it regards as emblematic: its effect on property prices.

There was an element of panic for about six weeks after the pandemic broke out, the newspaper says, when the real-estate business stalled, but then people up north discovered Florida and 2021 became a key year in property. The sheet reports that real-estate transactions for that year ran at $5 billion, up from $2.9 billion the year before and $1.3 billion in 2019. The high point was in May 2021 when one house sold for $41.7 million, having been bought four months earlier for $26.2 million. (This is called “flipping” and occurs more than you might think.) More than one real-estate firm reports selling properties in that year “site unseen.”

But there is a price to pay. At a recent town hall meeting, the council revealed that traffic in the area has risen by a massive 16 percent in the past year; congestion is increasing markedly, even when President Trump is not in town, and the main thoroughfare outside his Mar-a-Lago club is closed.

Not that the increased numbers have dampened Palm Beach’s enthusiasm for its social life. There are more charity balls than ever, and here’s how it works. A team of well-heeled citizens, almost certainly from among that magic 70,000, will work tirelessly throughout the year to arrange fabulous dinner-dances, often with a recognizable name as the cabaret star – Gloria Estefan being a recent invite. The dinner-dances will cost anything from $200,000 to $400,000 to stage.

As you sit down, you will find at your place setting a brochure which lists which fellow citizens have given what share of their wealth to the charity. It is all upfront, not at all retiring. At one recent event, this brochure showed that five named couples had given $100,000 and over; another five had given $50,000 and over, 26 couples had given $25,000 and over, four had given $15,000 and over and 24 couples had given $10,000 and over. Thus, these 64 couples had raised $1,395,000 for said charity. And by the way: the number of anonymous donations? Zero.

Even these philanthropic couples were left in the shade by a dinner for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. The dinner’s thank you to what it called “Community Visionaries” showed that three named couples had given $10 million, another three had given $7.5 million, five had given $5 million, nine $2.5 million, and 38 had given $1 million. This time there was one anonymous donor, bringing the evening’s total to $136 million.

On another evening, the auctioneer announced that the President had contacted him that day to say that he would be donating $100,000 to that particular charity, whereupon two “attendees,” as diners are called here, each raised his hand and immediately pledged $1 million.

Security remains tight, continuing to disrupt traffic, and although there have been no recent attempts to break the land perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, there have been 20 violations of its air space.

There are two security rings around the President’s residence, one at ten miles, the other at 30 miles. Only scheduled and medical emergency-related flights are allowed within these areas, and with there being some hundreds of private jets here, many are being diverted to nearby airports, which then involve lengthy drives to reach home – not something the 70,000 are used to.

Nor are they used to the outbreak of feral cats that has disfigured life here recently (though it shouldn’t be exaggerated). And this is the time of year when the much sought-after beachfront properties come under scrutiny. It is the turtle-mating season and house lights are not allowed to shine on the sand, as it disorients these rare creatures and inhibits reproduction.

This article was originally published in The Spectator’s May 2025 World edition.