Google expands Miami office as co-founders flee California for South Florida

Google reportedly expanded its office presence in Miami this year after two of its co-founders purchased houses in South Florida.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, signed a lease expanding its existing 10,000-square-foot satellite office in Miami’s financial district by an additional 45,000 square feet, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.

The outlet reported that the expansion was driven in part by the recent home purchases in the area by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin – two billionaires who have bought homes outside of California and relocated business entities out of the Golden State as voters weigh a billionaire tax on this fall’s ballot.

Google first opened an office in Miami in 2016 and the expansion will increase its presence in Florida – though the South Florida office remains much smaller than the corporate headquarters at its Mountain View campus in California, which has over 10 million square feet of space, and its 1.7 million-square-foot Hudson Square campus in New York.

GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER RIPS CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE TAX: ‘I FLED SOCIALISM’

Page and Brin left their roles as executives in 2019 but remain on Google’s board. Brin has reportedly taken an active role in shaping the company’s initiatives around artificial intelligence (AI).

A report from earlier this year by the Wall Street Journal noted that Page bought a waterfront compound for $101.5 million in December as well as a nearby home for $71.9 million, which he bought in early January, while Brin was reportedly closing in on a purchase at that time as well.

Bloomberg’s report said that Brin bought a $51 million waterfront home in Miami Beach shortly after Page’s purchase.

LARRY PAGE DROPS $173M ON MIAMI MANSIONS AMID CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE EXODUS TREND AS WEALTH TAX LOOMS

Brin was also linked to the purchase of a $42 million mansion on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe in December.

The moves occurred as California voters will vote on a proposed one-time wealth tax on billionaires this November.

The proposed constitutional amendment would levy a one-time, 5% wealth tax on taxpayers and trusts with over $1 billion in covered assets for the purpose of funding the state’s healthcare and food assistance programs, as well as public education.

GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER SERGEY BRIN JOINS CALIFORNIA EXODUS: REPORT

Assets covered by the tax would include businesses, securities, art, collectibles, and intellectual property – though real property, pensions and certain retirement accounts would be exempt.

If passed, the tax would apply retroactively to taxpayers who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026, with the tax due with 2027 tax filings.

Taxpayers could pay the tax in five equal installments, with subsequent payments subject to an annual deferral charge of 7.5% of the balance that remains unpaid.