Ken Fisher made a serious investment when he moved his firm north from California to Washington
Now, just years after settling into a scenic wooded campus in Camas, just across the river from Portland, Oregon, the billionaire money manager is again shifting the headquarters of Fisher Investments, this time south to a Dallas suburb.
The announcement came in a sarcastic statement late last week after the highest court in Washington state
"In honor of the Washington State Supreme Court's wisdom and knowledge of the law, and in recognition of whatever it may do next, Fisher Investments is immediately moving its headquarters from Washington State to Texas," the firm said. It plans to complete the process by June 30.
Fisher founded his eponymous firm in 1979 and it now manages close to $200 billion in assets. He'll relocate its headquarters to Plano, a northern Dallas suburb, where the company already has more than 1,000 employees.
He's joining a well-worn path of other finance, tech and industrial giants who have recently moved to Texas, citing its friendly regulatory environment, zero income taxes and relatively affordable living costs.
Texas wave
Charles Schwab moved its headquarters to the Dallas suburb of Westlake in 2021, while Elon Musk relocated Tesla's headquarters to Austin. Last year, Caterpillar said it was shifting to Irving, Texas from Illinois. And the region continues to attract Wall Street's biggest firms, with Goldman Sachs planning to expand its presence downtown Dallas with a new campus.
Like Texas, Washington doesn't have an income tax. But in 2021, the Democratic-led state legislature passed a bill that would impose a 7% tax on an individual's long-term capital gains exceeding $250,000.
There will be no impact to current employees outside of Texas, Fisher spokesperson Naj Srinivas said in an email. The firm will shift its hiring to Plano and will increase employee transfers, so over time its Washington headcount will shrink from its current level of about 1,800.
Fisher's face is a familiar sight for many retail investors, given the firm's prolific television and direct-mail advertising, along with investment books and what used to be frequent media appearances.
Fisher, who's worth $4.1 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, came under fire in late 2019 after
The money manager compared financial planning and the practice of gaining new clients to picking up a woman at a bar, using cruder terms. Large clients pulled nearly $4 billion from the company in a month. At the time, Fisher told Bloomberg his comments had been taken out of context and misinterpreted.
The billionaire, who has a residence in Dallas, is a Republican-party donor who supported former President Donald Trump and donated to a Texas political action committee that supports the most conservative state candidates.
