MARIA: WOW, YEAH.
INCREDIBLE, CHERYL.
HANKS VERY MUCH.
WE ARE LOOKING AT A BOOMING
MIAMI RIGHT NOW, AND MIAMI’S
MAYOR HAS BEEN SEEING AN
INCREASE OF TECHNOLOGY
EXECUTIVES MOVING HEADQUARTERS
THERE.
NOW HE’S INVITING TWITTER TO
MOVE TO HIS CITY AS ELON MUSK
PUTS HIS TAKEOVER BID FOR THE
COMPANY ON HOLD.
MAYOR SUAREZ SAYS HE HAS NOT YET
TALKED TO MUSK ABOUT A POTENTIAL
MOVE BUT POINTED TO OTHER
COMPANIES ADDING OFFICE A SPACE
LIKE MICROSOFT, APPLE AND CISCO
SYSTEMS.
JOINING ME NOW IS MAN HIMSELF,
MIAMI MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ.
MR. MAYOR, ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO
SEE YOU.
THANKS VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
>> ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO BE WITH
YOU, MARIA.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE
OPPORTUNITY.
MARIA: SO ASSESS WHAT’S
HAPPENING IN MIAMI.
YOU’VE BEEN TRYING TO CREATE
SOMETHING OF A TECHNOLOGY HUB IN
MIAMI, AND YOU HAVE ALREADY SEEN
SOME TECH COMPANIES LEAVE
SILICON VALLEY AND COME SET UP
SHOP IN MIAMI, RIGHT?
>> WE’VE SEEN A TREMENDOUS
AMOUNT OF MIGRATION FROM SILICON
VALLEY TO MIAMI NOT ONLY BIG
COMPANIES, BUT, YOU KNOW, SMALL
COMPANIES, INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE
SORT OF FLEEING A HIGH-TAX
ENVIRONMENT, AN ENVIRONMENT
WHERE THERE IS RAMPANT
HOMELESSNESS AND CRIME TO A
PLACE THAT HAS KEPT TAXES AT THE
LOWEST LEVEL SINCE THE 1950s,
WE’VE KEPT OUR HOMICIDE RATE
DOWN.
WE’RE DOWN 22% LAST YEAR, THIS
YEAR WE’RE DOWN 40% IN
HOMICIDES.
OUR HOMELESS RATE IS DOWN TO THE
LOWEST SINCE 2013, AND WE WANT
TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST MAJOR
SAYS TO HAVE ZERO HOMELESS.
THAT’S OUR CHALLENGE.
MARIA: THAT’S AMAZING.
>> IT’S AMAZING.
SPORTS AND CULTURE, WE JUST HAD
FORMULA ONE.
WE’RE THE ONLY CITY IN THE WORLD
THAT HAS ALL THE MAJOR SPORTS
AND FORMULA ONE WHICH JUST
HAPPENED LAST WEEK.
WE’RE HOPING TO GET A FIFA WORLD
CUP GAME IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF
MONTHS.
SO WE’RE FOCUSING ON
FUNDAMENTALS, AND IT’S CREATING
A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF
PROSPERITY IN MIAMI.
WE’RE NUMBER ONE IN THE NATION
IN WAGE GROWTH.
MARIA: YEAH.
WE’VE SEEN, CERTAINLY, A REAL
MIGRATION TO FLORIDA OVERALL.
A MUCH BETTER TAX SITUATION
THERE, AND YOU’VE GOT WEALTHY
INDIVIDUALS GOING FOR THE NO
INCOME TAX IN FLORIDA AS WELL.
WHAT ELSE IS THE ATTRACTION?
WHAT KIND OF INCENTIVES ARE YOU
OFFERING TECH COMPANIES TO MOVE
TO MIAMI, AND WHAT DO YOU THINK
IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS
NOW AS YOU SEE ALL OF THIS
MIGRATION?
>> WELL, I THINK THAT’S THE
INTERESTING PART, THERE’S VERY
LITTLE TO NO INCENTIVES.
IT’S THE ABOUT A HAVING A
FAVORABLE TAX ENVIRONMENT, IT’S
ABOUT KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE, AND
IT’S ABOUT -- THIS IS A
SHOCKER -- BEING WELCOME AND
INVITING, RIGHT?
WHEN YOU SAW AMAZON GET KICKED
OUT OF NEW YORK, WHEN YOU SAW
ELON GET KICKED OUT OF
CALIFORNIA, YOU KNOW, FROM OUR
PERSPECTIVE WE WANT CREATORS AND
INNOVATORS AND PEOPLE WHO ARE
CREATING HIGH-PAYING JOBS MANY
OUR COMMUNITY.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE
CHILDREN WHO ARE EDUCATED IN
THIS COMMUNITY CAN STAY IN THIS
COMMUNITY AFTER COLLEGE AND HAVE
HIGH PAYING JOBS AND CREATE
PROSPERITY FOR THE CITY.
WE THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, A
PROSPEROUS CITY IS ONE WHERE
THERE’S LOW CRIME AND THERE’S
LOW HOMELESSNESS WHICH HAS
TURNED OUT TO BE THE CASE.
SO THAT’S OUR RECIPE FOR
SUCCESS.
IT’S ACTUALLY QUITE SIMPLE.
MARIA: YEAH.
YEAH, IT IS.
AND, UNFORTUNATELY, YOU’RE NOT
SEEING THAT IN THE REST OF THE
COUNTRY.
I MEAN, LET’S FACE IT, YOU’VE
GOT HOMICIDES INCREASING IN BIG
CITIES, YOU’VE GOT CRIME
INCREASING IN BIG CITIES, BUT
YOU’RE SEEING THE OPPOSITE IN
MIAMI.
ELON MUSK SAYS HIS TWITTER DEAL
IS ON HOLD UNTIL HE GETS MORE
INFO ON THIS, ON THESE FAKE
ACCOUNTS.
HE SAYS A LOWER PRICE IS NOT OUT
OF THE QUESTION.
I KNOW THAT THE HE SPOKE AT A
MIAMI TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
YESTERDAY ESTIMATING THAT THE
NUMBER OF FAKE ACCOUNTS IS 20%.
YOU WERE AT THAT CONFERENCE AS
WELL.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE
CONFERENCE, AND WHAT YOU HEARD FROM ELON MUSK?
FROM ELON MUSK?
>> WELL, THE SUMMIT DONE BY
JASON KLEIN WITS, IT’S DONE BY A
VARIETY OF OTHERS, IT’S AN
INCREDIBLE DAY OF PROGRAMMING,
WE A HAD THE ASPEN INSTITUTE,
THE JP GLOBAL CONFERENCE THIS
YEAR, WE HAD MILLIKEN, YOU KNOW,
DO MIAMI INSTITUTE THIS YEAR.
WE’RE HOPING TO GET DAVOS AND
MAYBE FII AS WELL.
SO WE’RE LEADING THE NATION NOW
IN THOUGHT CONFERENCES, AND I
THINK WHAT THE PREDOMINANT SORT
OF MESSAGE IS, YOU KNOW, MIAMI’S
A PLACE OF FREEDOM, A PLACE
WHERE PEOPLE FLED OPPRESSION,
RIGHT?
WHETHER IT’S VENEZUELA, MIX RAG
WHAT -- NICARAGUA, CUBA, OF
COURSE. AND WE REALIZE GOVERNMENT TO ITS
AND WE REALIZE GOVERNMENT TO ITS
FULL EXTENSION -- WE’RE
FUNDAMENTALLY AMERICAN AND FREE
MARKET IN OUR CITY.
THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE DON’T TAKE
CARE OF THE VULNERABLE, WHICH WE
DO, OUR HOMELESS.
AND, OF COURSE, WE’VE REDUCED
ABOVE POVERTY BY 50% IN THE LAST
20 YEARS IN MIAMI, SO WE’RE
DOING A TREMENDOUS JOB OF JUST
STICKING TO THE FUNDAMENTALS AND
CREATING A CITY THAT WORKS.
AND THAT MODEL CAN BE SCALED TO
THE REST OF THE COUNTRY.
85% OF AMERICANS LIVE IN CITIES
AND 91% OF THE GDP OF THIS
COUNTRY IS PRODUCED IN CITIES.
MARIA: MR. MAYOR, LET ME ASK YOU
ABOUT CRYPTO.
YOU WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO COME
UP WITH A GREAT DIGITAL WAY TO
HAVE A MIAMI COIN.
YOU ALSO SAID YOU WERE AMONG THE
FIRST TO TAKE YOUR NEXT PAYCHECK
IN BITCOIN.
HAVE YOU SEEN ANY IF CHANGE IN
TERMS OF CRYPTO AND THE
ACCEPTANCE GIVEN THIS DECLINE
THAT WE’VE SEEN IN THE PRICE OF
CRYPTO OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS?
WAY DOWN FROM THE HIGHS.
>> YEAH, I HAVE.
YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
THAT ANY CRYPTO IS STILL VALUEED
AT, YOU KNOW, $30,000 FOR ONE
BITCOIN WHICH MEANS THAT THE
MARKET VALUES IT 30,000 TIMES
MORE THAN THE U.S. DOLLAR WHICH
IS THE BASE CURRENCY OF THE
WORLD.
WHETHER IT’S 10,000, 30,000,
40,000 OR 60,000, IT’S STILL
MULTIPLE TENS OF THOUSANDS MORE
THAN BASE CURRENCY OF THE U.S.
I THINK THAT’S INTERESTING.
YOU SHOULDN’T FOCUS ON PRICE.
I FOCUS MORE ON UTILITY.
HOW IS THIS TECHNOLOGY GOING TO
REVOLUTIONIZE THE WORLD.
THEN THE THIRD THING, IS HOW
DOES IT AFFECT CITIES’ MACRO
ECONOMIES?
WHEN YOU PUT IT IN DOLLARS, WE
HAD THE BITCOIN CONFERENCE WHICH
BRINGS 50,000 ATTENDEES, TENS OF
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT.
MULTIPLE COMPANIES HAVE MOVED TO
MIAMI CREATING HUNDREDS OF HIGH
PAYING JOBS IN DOLLARS, AND WE
HAVE THE FDX ARENA WHICH WAS
JUST RECENTLY RENAMED, $200
MILLION.
SO THAT HAS A DOLLAR IMPACT ON
OUR ECONOMY.
MARIA: YEP.
GREAT POINT.
PLEASURE ALL RIGHT.
FRANCIS SUAREZ, ALWAYS A