Yet another celebrity businessman is moving his headquarters from tax-heavy California to Texas.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, known for TV shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen” and for operating high-class restaurants worthy of coveted Michelin stars, is moving his North American restaurant operations from Los Angeles to Las Colinas, a suburb in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
What are the details?
The move comes as Gordon Ramsay North America is planning a massive expansion and investment in the United States that includes opening 75 company-owned restaurants over the next five years, the Dallas Morning News reported.
But why move to Dallas? Company CEO Norman Abdallah pointed to tax policies — and especially the financial benefits of operating from Texas — as encouraging the move.
“The cost of living adjustment [from California to Texas] is pretty substantial,” Abdallah explained. “If you can make it in Dallas, you can make it anywhere.”
Ramsay may also have been prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The entrepreneur admitted in February that his restaurants suffered losses of approximately $80 million in the pandemic — and that was in the United Kingdom alone. Given Ramsay’s substantial existing portfolio in the U.S., he likely suffered well over $100 million in total losses due to shutdowns.
Ramsay told Insider that he recycles his own money back into his restaurants because he understands how many livelihoods depend on his success.
“I have always put my money back into the business. … I’ve never been greedy, I’ve always been very, very generous,” Ramsay explained. “I get criticised for being wealthy, but the responsibility on my shoulders — the livelihoods at stake — is huge.”
Anything else?
While Ramsay himself is not moving to Texas — he splits his time between Los Angeles and the U.K. — a host of major companies have recently relocated their headquarters to Texas from California.
In fact, multiple Fortune 500 companies have relocated to Texas in the last six years, including Charles Schwab, Jacobs, McKesson Corp., CBRE Group, Core-Mark International, Oracle, Tesla, and Hewlett-Packard.
And it’s only getting worse for California.
The Hoover Institute at Stanford University released a report in August finding that 74 companies had relocated out of California during the first six months of 2021. By comparison, only 62 companies moved their headquarters to California in all of 2020.
