Apollo Looks To Sun Belt For Second Headquarters And Growth Engine

Apollo Global Management is planning to open a second headquarters in the American South that will host most of its future hires.

The New York-based firm has more than doubled its headcount since 2020 and is considering Sun Belt hot spots for the new office, the Financial Times reported. 

Partners and managing directors at Apollo were recently surveyed about their location preferences. The asset management giant, which has more than $900B in assets under management, has been considering Austin, Nashville and South Florida, multiple sources told FT. 

Apollo framed the decision to explore a second headquarters as part of the fight for talent. 

“This decision is driven by the talent we want to hire and the firm we want to be,” the company said in a statement to FT. “New York does not have a monopoly on talent, and we expect most of our future growth will take place in our second HQ.”

Employees at the investment giant and its affiliate have been told the firm plans to establish a second headquarters in either Texas or South Florida, Apollo told FT. 

Apollo didn’t immediately respond to Bisnow’s request for comment Monday morning. The timeline to stand up the new office is unknown, and it’s unclear which executives, if any, will make the move from New York. 

Apollo has had its headquarters in New York City since its 1990 founding and has been in the Solow Building, a premiere office property just off Central Park, for two decades. The firm has been growing quickly since buying life insurance firm Athene for $11B in 2021. The firm reported having 4,000 employees in its most recent annual report, up from 1,700 at the end of 2020. 

The election of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York's mayor triggered handwringing from the investor class about the potential for higher taxes. Some, including Miami-based Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht, said Mamdani could fuel an exodus of wealthy people and corporations from the city.  

Brokers in South Florida said in September they were fielding calls from wealthy New Yorkers looking to get out, but condo sales in New York were up in the quarter immediately after Mamdani’s win.

Apollo’s presence outside New York grew during the pandemic, including with new offices in Miami and Palm Beach, Florida. It has several locations across California, a presence in Des Moines, Iowa, and an office in Houston. 

There is no indication at this time that Apollo will reduce its New York footprint.

The pandemic kicked off a wave of investment firms and private credit managers flocking to Sun Belt states, especially Texas and Florida, where there is no personal income tax and the corporate tax burden is significantly smaller. 

In Texas, high-profile relocations include Oracle, which moved its corporate headquarters to Austin in 2020 after four decades in Silicon Valley, and Elon Musk’s Tesla and X, among others.

For South Florida, billionaire Ken Griffin was among the early movers in 2022 when Citadel, his hedge fund, announced it would move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami. In the first four months of 2026, four companies announced relocations to South Florida, the highest profile of which is tech firm Palantir, which announced its move in February.