After 30 Years In LA, Canyon Partners Plans Move To Texas Due To “High Taxes, Congestion”

Two months ago, Joe Rogan famously questioned why people pay for the “privilege” to live in places like California; where taxes are sky high, likely heading higher, the government is bloated and intrusive and Democratic leadership seems to have no real interest in either being fiscally responsible or (lately) maintaining law and order.

“I’m outta here. I’m gonna go to Texas. I just want to go somewhere in the center of the country, somewhere it’s easier to travel to both places, and somewhere where you have a little bit more freedom.”

“Also I think that um, where we live right here in Los Angeles is overcrowded. And I think, most of the time that’s not a problem. But I think it’s exposing the fact that it’s a real issue, when you look at the number of people that uh, are catching COVID because of this overpopulation issue.”

“When you look at the traffic, when you look at the economic despair, when you look at the homelessness problem that’s accelerated radically over the last six, seven, ten years, I think there’s too many people here,” he continued.

“I think it’s not tenable, I don’t think that it’s manageable. And every mayor does a shit job of doing it because I don’t think anybody could do a great job of it. I think there’s certain things you’re gonna have to deal with when you have a population of whatever the f**k L.A. is, it’s like twenty million plus people,” Rogan said.

Quite a rant… But Rogan is far from alone as the exodus of rich, poor, liberal, conservative California Dreamers has escalated. As we noted at the start of the year, even before the lockdowns forced millions to ‘work from home’ or worse ‘not work’, about 203,000 people left California, a result of the state’s shifting migration patterns and economic strains that are making it harder to afford living here.

The latest high-profile “California leaver” turns out to be $24 billion AUM hedge fund Canyon Partners, which has been a well known fixture in Los Angeles financial circles since its founding in 1990.

As Bloomberg reports, high taxes, congestion, and the fire risks of Southern California, have driven Canyon’s founders, Josh Friedman and Mitch Julis to explore a geographical shift.

According to people familiar with the discussions, Dallas and Austin are the front-runners and the firm expects to make the final decision next month as employees have been pitched the lure of Texas to lead a better life.

Canyon had 177 employees as of the end of 2019, according to its latest regulatory filing.

This exodus from liberal, high-taxation states has been a notable theme on the East Coast, as we recently detailed here, and now seems to be spreading the wealthiest on the West Coast.