Why millennial millionaires are flocking to California – to Silicon Valley, where Facebook, Google, Twitter, Uber and Tesla all began
More than half of US millennial millionaires live in California, home to tech bigwigs Facebook and Google, and housing prices are soaring because of their influx to the area
California is a hub for millennial wealth.
There are 618,000 millennial millionaires in America – and 44 per cent of them live in California, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker.
They’re 26 years old, only a few years out of school and they have just [received] a big equity play of US$5 million because of what they can do at their desk behind a computer
The Coldwell Banker Global Luxury programme worked with wealth intelligence data and research firm WealthEngine to analyse the lifestyles of millennial millionaires, from wealth creation and property investments to spending trends. It defined millennial millionaires as those ages 23 to 37 with a net worth of more than US$1 million.
It also looked at the top 10 postcodes where these millennial millionaires live. Turns out, eight of those postcodes are in California; of those eight, no fewer than seven are in Silicon Valley, from Cupertino to San Jose.
It is not just millennial millionaires who are concentrated in California. According to the report, the state also has the highest population of millionaires overall, regardless of age. That does not come as a major surprise, given that Silicon Valley is the country’s tech capital – but it does go to show the power Silicon Valley has in minting young wealth.
Silicon Valley offers a trifecta of tech, wealth, and real estate
Some of today’s most prominent tech companies emerged in Silicon Valley in the 2000s: Facebook, Twitter, Uber and Tesla all got their legs in the area.
It follows that some of the biggest names in tech are known to live in some of the biggest price tag mansions in the area. Look no further than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who bought a US$7 million home in Palo Alto, or Snap. Inc., Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey bought his San Francisco home for US$9.9 million in 2012.
And Silicon Valley is still busy minting new millionaires today.