Apollo Leans Toward Austin For Second U.S. Headquarters

Apollo Global Management chose Austin over South Florida for its second U.S. headquarters, according to reports. 

However, the asset management firm’s plans for Austin are not yet final, according to the Financial Times, which first reported on it. Apollo announced in March it was looking at Sun Belt locations for its second headquarters, where it expects “most of our future growth will take place.” 

The search was driven by a desire to find talent outside of New York. The firm had narrowed its options to Texas or South Florida in March, and Austin has since become the top contender, according to Bloomberg. 

Apollo’s headquarters has been in New York City since its founding in 1990. For the past two decades, it has been in the Solow Building, adjacent to Central Park. 

The firm's employee headcount has more than doubled since 2020, jumping from 1,700 to 4,000, as of its latest annual report. Rapid growth followed Apollo’s acquisition of life insurance firm Athene for $11B in 2021.

Apollo isn’t the only New York financial firm to expand its presence in Texas, as lower taxes and a business-friendly reputation have lured firms including Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group Inc., Bloomberg reported. 

The Texas Stock Exchange, a Dallas-based alternative to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, is slated to start trading in July. The Texas Stock Exchange confirmed last month it would move to the Bank of America Tower at Parkside, adding to a financial district of Dallas coming to be known as Y’all Street. 

While Dallas has drawn more financial firms in recent years, Austin is also home to major fund allocators like the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, Bloomberg reported. 

Texas began seeing a huge jump in corporate relocations in 2020, with 42 companies relocating their headquarters to Texas in 2020 and then 79 headquarters relocations in 2021. The number dropped to an eight-year low of 17 in 2023, but the state has since drawn major companies, including Chevron and SpaceX. 

Texas now has 57 Fortune 500 headquarters, the most of any state, leading Gov. Greg Abbott to call the state “the undisputed headquarters of headquarters.” 

“The world’s leading businesses invest with confidence in Texas because of our welcoming business climate, predictable regulatory environment, and skilled and growing workforce,” Abbott said. “People and businesses are choosing Texas because Texas works.”