In Dallas, a construction project is underway amid high-rises occupied by major banks like Bank of America and JP Morgan. Goldman Sachs is developing an 800,000-square-foot campus there, designed to accommodate over 5,000 employees at a cost of $700 million. This initiative reflects the city’s broader strategy, dubbed ‘Y’all Street,’ to challenge New York’s status as the premier financial center. The Dallas-Fort Worth region has transformed from a brief stop for bankers into a growing financial powerhouse, with its sector employment rising 40% in the last decade to 386,000 workers. Financial institutions are drawn by ties to Texas’s energy, technology, and AI industries, along with substantial incentives, specialized business courts, and the absence of corporate or income taxes. Over the past year, a decade-long property tax exemption and $2.7 million in grants persuaded Scotiabank to move from North Carolina, adding 1,000 positions. Additionally, Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have established operations in Dallas to attract listings. This comes alongside the planned launch of the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) this year, which offers relaxed listing standards that may attract conservative business leaders, including no mandates for board diversity. The TXSE has targeted New York in advertising, featuring imagery of a Texas longhorn breaking Wall Street’s bull statue and proclaiming it the ‘real bull market.’ Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson emphasizes the city’s commitment to this goal, citing national political trends that favor business-oriented locations. His administration is focusing on companies deterred by progressive policies in places like New York, where proposals for subsidized childcare, groceries, and a potential 9.5% property tax hike are seen as burdensome. Johnson notes that Dallas pursues opposing strategies to appeal to such firms. This month, a 10-member team from his office visited New York to recruit Wall Street leaders. Efforts extend beyond the U.S., with outreach to international firms. Mike Rosa from the Dallas Regional Chamber highlights successes in drawing global banks to establish or expand headquarters in the area, leveraging proximity to key clients and tech companies. Texas now leads the nation in hosting NYSE-listed and Fortune 500 headquarters, surpassing California. Recent relocations include Oracle from Silicon Valley to Austin in 2020, Elon Musk’s Tesla, X, and SpaceX from California, and ExxonMobil from New Jersey last month. The Dallas-Fort Worth population has grown fastest among U.S. metro areas since 2010, reaching 8.5 million, driven by inflows from other states like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. Economist Cullum Clark from Southern Methodist University attributes part of this to political preferences, with evidence suggesting conservative individuals are leaving more liberal regions. Businesses also benefit from improved talent recruitment in the area. Aasem Khalil, who leads Goldman Sachs’s Dallas operations, has observed these advantages.
