Inside Florida’s Richest Town

Inside Florida’s Richest Town

Do you see billionaires around? I mean, I’m riding my bike to the beach in the morning. I’m seeing Rolls-Royces. I’m seeing everything. Single party can imagine. This is just a community that was always established for the wealthy. How much are these properties going for? 7 million to 100 plus million dollars. What’s it like working for people with money and not having money yourself? It sucks. What is your take on the people? Lots of finance, bros. When the president is here, they close some of the streets. They see the rich people and then everyone else. Yeah, you don’t even have to park at Publix. They will valet for you. We are driving to the most notorious place in Palm Beach, the former home of a famous financeier, Jeffrey Epste. If you want to see how billionaires live, then you need to come with us to Palm Beach, Florida. With a population of just 9,000, Palm Beach is home to at least 58 billionaires, more than in all of France, Japan, and even the UK. We went there to explore this wealth firsthand. Our journey led us to Epstein’s old compound, the priciest property in the US, and some unexpected encounters. Now, I’m not from this side of the bridge or this side of the island. There’s no misconception where the poverty lines are. Even if I had a 40 million in the bank, I wouldn’t live in West Palm Beach. This is it’s a swamp out here, brother. As the latest episode in our richest towns in America series, this is Palm Beach, Florida, America’s billionaire capital. Our journey began in West Palm Beach, the neighboring city inland that many confuse with Palm Beach. It’s much poorer than Palm Beach, but as you approach the bridge that takes you to the island, you can start to smell the money in the air and see it on the road. You can see more of the old money vibe here. Meet some of the new money coming in. It’s just under $3. That one’s 457K. That one is priced at 523,000. The most expensive car that left this dealership was delivered last year. It was called the Valiant. It was $2.7 million. I’d say it’s gotten a lot younger. Younger people also like sports cars. When we crossed the bridge, it felt like we entered a different world [Music] and this is a public area and it looks like we landed in Versail. Luxury stores everywhere. In the scale of it, you’ve never seen anything like this. Sorry, sir. Jaguar just hit me. Can we sue someone here in the height of season? Half the lot might be a white BMW, white Mercedes. The town oozed wealth and prestige from the parks to the houses all the way to the retail shops. They are like a piece of art. It’s the Bentley on the water. They’re exquisite toys for a person with exquisite taste. There’s always a market in Palm Beach for yaching. How much do like the 54 meter ones go for? How much do you want to spend is the answer. I was born and raised here. So really, this is just a community that was always established for the wealthy. In this island, does it look like the one of your childhood? In a lot of ways, yes. Yes. All right. So, we asked one of the employees at the yacht store, the people are nice here, and they said that 99% of people are super nice. I mean, these are some of the richest people in the world, though. The the 1% the people who aren’t that rich, but want to play at that level, they are super rude and they go in there with the super arrogant attitude. The scale of luxury in Palm Beach far surpassed anything we had seen in the other rich towns we visited. Brooks Brothers would have felt like the Dollar General here. But where were the people? It is a ghost town right now. We’re in Palm Beach in the evening. And since it’s not season, it’s empty. We’re literally in the middle of what should be these intersections. Crazy. Although most of its residents were gone, we did find some locals to tell us about Palm Beach. Small island. Everybody knows each other. It’s a great lifestyle. Where are you from? I France originally. When did you come out here? About 10 years ago. What’s your favorite part about Palm Beach? The community. The community. Yes. A lot of people in America today view rich people as not very nice. And obviously this is a very wealthy area. What’s your response to that? I feel like people actually do a lot for each other. They give a lot to charity. They do a lot for others. Yes. And what’s different about the wealth here versus the wealth in some of the nicest parts of France? I think the wealth here is way above what it is in France. Here it’s also little bit understated like people are very private. When you think Palm Beach, you think like the sun, the beach is right over there. It’s great. A lot of obviously amazing shopping here. Is it When is it busiest during the year? Honestly, I feel like Yeah, cuz it’s so hot. Like, people don’t want to come out and walk around. Like, we’re like splitting. But it’s still It’s really pretty though. What are the people like here? Lots of finance bros. A lot of finance bros. What’s your favorite part of Florida? Here. Here. That’s why we come with my girlfriends and like just walk around. And we get why the locals were gone. It was incredibly hot when we visited. Before we saw the mansions, including Ken Griffin’s $1 billion compound, we needed to cool down on the beach. I mean, the worst part about filming in Florida is the heat. It has genuinely been hard to stay hydrated, and I’m just exhausted by the end. Wo! The water, you know, water just isn’t cutting it. I need more. Element. This is the sponsor of this video. Thank you so much to Element for sponsoring it. I actually drink Element every single day. It replenishes your energy. And by the way, you might feel fatigued. You might feel worn out after exercise. Element keeps you hydrated. And oh my goodness, does it taste great. And in Florida, we’ve been in the Everglades. We’re going to Miami’s hoods tomorrow. We need electrolytes. So get yours pin comment and description. Go to drinkleelement.com/roka to get a free sample pack that’s exclusive to Roka users. drinkelement.com/roka. Back to the richest town. Now, at this point, it was time to see some of the mansions, including Trump’s and the most expensive property in America. To give you a sense of the Palm Beach real estate market, in 2024, 10 properties closed for $49 million or more, including two above $140 million. All right, we pulled over on a random culde-sac, and this house behind us is worth, any guess, three bedrooms, four bathrooms, $41 million. And by the way, this is distinctive in Palm Beach. The hedges here are exceptionally high. One reason this street is so expensive is the beach is on both sides of us here. This house over here is worth tens of millions of dollars. And you might wonder what do wealthy people drink. Lroy Coke Zero reminds me of the Andy Warhol quote that even the wealthy in America they like ketchup. They like Hines ketchup. To our left is Mara Lago. It’s obviously Trump’s the winter white house as it’s called. You can see it there. There are cops everywhere. You’re unable to get in. It’s right now under construction, but that’s Mara Lago. We are driving to the most notorious place in Palm Beach, the former home of a famous financier, Jeffrey Epstein. In 2005, the Palm Beach Police Department received reports of young women going to and from his residence. This is so creepy cuz this looks just like the documentaries, the private investigators on the street. This right here behind us is where Jeffrey Epstein’s home used to be. It used to be 350 Elrio Way. Epstein’s house was demolished several years ago or according to authorities itself demolished. But there it is, the former estate. Jeffrey Epstein used to be a staple of the Palm Beach community, not too unlike another figure who brought Scandal to the island, Fernie Maidoff. Many of Maid Off’s investors were on Palm Beach, where Maid Off owned a home. Bruce Helander is an artist and gallery director who says he knew many of maid off’s victims. I know one person that lost over $40 million. Epstein and Maid Off leave a tinge of scandal to the community. A community that loves privacy, but that hasn’t hurt the real estate market. This house right here sold for $145 million to the son of the man who owns a Playboy Mansion in LA. The most expensive home sold last year. That house is worth an estimated $170 million. 10 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms. Unbelievable. Okay, this is the Breakers here. It was built in 1925. A five-star hotel. One of the most iconic in the country, and it became a huge attraction for wealthy northerners who wanted to escape to Florida in the winters and really help put Palm Beach on the map. Now, you might be wondering why this video matters. Why do we need to get a glimpse inside this billionaire conclave? And the truth is billionaires are an important part and distinctive part of the American economy. We have 900 of them. China’s the next closest with 500 of them. And some believe they’ve been incredible for the US economy. They’ve created the most lush capital markets in the world. It’s why we are able to start new companies that can scale quickly. Companies can merge. Then the other side of the argument says they take way too much wealth from the country. the financialization of the US economy has not helped Main Street people, everyday Americans, and that generally speaking, these people are leeches on the economy. So, that’s why we’re doing this. They’re an important part of the economy and it’s very unique to see how people live. All right, we’re in the nicest place in the world right now, but somehow there are still bad vibes here. Look at this. Unsubscribed. We hope you do the opposite to our channel. If you enjoy our content, if you want us to capture the world without bias or fear, please make sure to subscribe. Don’t peel like that. Now, we’ll take you to hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin’s compound, the most expensive property in America. He has bought up $450 million worth of land. He’s building a monstrous mansion. He just got approval to make his fences 9 ft instead of the regulated 7 ft. And it’s going to be an obscene home worth an estimated $1 billion. He’s been buying up the properties for years now and oh my goodness, it’s crazy to see the number of workers over here on the fence are even more. Ken Griffin is notable for not merely the price of his property but also for relocating his hedge fund Citadel to South Florida. So if you look out over the water, there’s the yellow building over there on the right and just south of that is a several acre site that we’ll be building our new headquarters at. It’ll be 1,040 ft tall. It’ll be one of the greatest office buildings built in the world. Co sparked an exodus of financial firms like his to South Florida, giving it the nickname the Wall Street of the South. Wall Street South. Wall Street South. Wall Street South. Names like Black Rockck and Goldman Sachs. Miami, I think, represents the future of America. That’s caused Palm Beach real estate to boom. Market in general here. You can see how it’s picking up since January have sold 56 properties. pretty much what what it was sold last year and the whole year. I mean, when you have someone who’s ultra wealthy who moves here, what are they looking for more than anything else? More than anything is peace. Though, we couldn’t help but wonder with so many $100 million mansions, why is the median home value in Palm Beach only $3 million? Well, there’s a wrinkle here. The median single family home value in Palm Beach is $14 million which blows Athetherton California aka the richest town in America out of the water. But unlike Athetherton which is more restrictive on zoning, Palm Beach has another side to it. A side with much more affordable apartments. All right, here’s a big difference between the richest town in Florida and the richest town in California. So in California, Athetherton has a median home value of $8 million. Now the thing there is they have zero apartment complexes. Everything’s a single family home and that drives it. Whereas here in Palm Beach, they have multi-family complexes all over. You can see these apartment buildings everywhere. We just looked up some prices. Some are going for 400,000 500,000. This contrast between the top 1% and the top 001% was palpable. and one landscaper unloaded about the wealth. For the people who’ve never been here, what is this area like? It’s the ultimate. The best. How so? Everything around here. You can’t touch it. It’s the best. What’s your job? I just do everything. Taking care of it. I think we did it all in 98 and I’ve been here ever since. What’s your favorite part of the job? Nothing. Nothing. Don’t like it. It’s hard. There’s always something you got to fix. So, the people that don’t live here but work here. Mhm. Where do they live? We all live out west. I was born here and built my house. I think I was around 28 years old. I’m 70 now. And you built it where? Okchobee in the Turnpike. That’s 7 mi from here. Nothing out there when I built it. It was all woods. Now, all built up. When you built it, how much did it cost? And now, how much could you sell it for? It was a buck 36. They’re selling now for eight. If you could predict the future of of Palm Beach, what do you think it is? Priceless. Good luck to you. Of course. Hopefully you’re all doing good with it. We try our best. What’s up, man? How you get in the way of the shot? Did I? Nah, bro. Can I ask you a question? Sure. So, we’re we’re from New York. We go around to different places around the country, and we’re making a video about Palm Beach. So, we want to know. There’s a lot of rich people here, but there’s people like you that are taking care of this place, right? Not rich. Not rich. So, what’s that like? It’s okay. I appreciate the work we have. Life could be worse. This is like a tough job. But like what’s like the day-to-day? Like what are you doing right now? Right now I’m pressure cleaning. Just making it look nice. Do a lot of restoration here. A lot of it’s a 100-y old property and all these properties are huge. They necessitate constant upkeep, constant maintenance. And you’d be surprised, 80% of these folks aren’t even here right now. There’s no misconception where the poverty lines are. You know, you just go over the bridge and it’s almost like a different world. I’m not going to negatively judge people because they got money. Definitely hard work to afford a house like this. That won’t be right. But I don’t relate. Obviously there’s rich people. Obviously, I’m not. This is not the first time I feel like I’m less of a person because I didn’t acquire a massive fortune to buy a house that they don’t live in. Would I want to amass a fortune and become the person that pays everybody to do everything for me and therefore become a useless myself? Not really. Do I appreciate the work I got to do to get by? Yeah. You know, one day at a time. People look at you and they’re like, “You’re not for my cloth.” And automatically you’re shunned out like you were never worth it in the first place. It’s like a blessing or a cursing. When you’re exposed to money and you don’t come for money, you see it from a different angle. you see it from a different perspective. You come for money and it helps you. You’re almost willing to turn your back if it’s for your benefit of the favor. But if you don’t, you don’t ever have that luxury or option by a girl who lived on the island. Her parents knew somebody anyway. The girl was hammer drunk, fell out of her cow with a bunch of open open containers. The cop didn’t even so much as bat an eye. Let her go. No arrest and nothing. Meanwhile, a little Guatemalan Mexican guy who works here, right? Man, cool. Don’t speak a lick of English. Always get a smile on his face. Always sweating his balls off. Always working hard. I guess caught a vicious DUI for having his key in the ignition. The truck wasn’t even on. Cop brought him to jail. It’s a high working guy. Probably with a family. And now he’s got to go through the whole rigomear of that There’s a double standard. As long as we have this that nobody lives in. Even if I had a 40 million in the bank, I wouldn’t live in West Palm Beach. This is it’s a swamp out here, brother. We live in We’re a mile below sea level. There’s bugs and everywhere. This dude’s putting a billion dollars down the road in a swamp. a billion dollar putting a house on an island that at any point in time that level five hurricane that’s out there right now can come and just rip this whole thing apart. You’re going to have you money in order to do that and not kid. What’s your hope for the future then? I’m actually going to be going back to school. I want a degree in electrical engineering. Oh yeah. Uh these dead end jobs ain’t doing nothing. I wake up with my mind on like all right this is what I got to do and what makes me happy is knowing what I’m going to get to. We left the landscapers and continued to explore the wealth of Palm Beach, seeing the neighborhoods where dozens of other billionaires lived. The wealth went on and on all the way up to the beach where we ended our day talking to college students who go to school across the bridge. Well done, sir. Y’all missed it yesterday. You’ll live here or do you go to school here? We’re all sweet mates. 10-minute walk from the beach, bro. It’s life. I mean, I’m riding my bike to the beach in the morning. I’m seeing Rolls-Royces. I’m seeing everything single car you can imagine. Lamborghini Urus just like casually, it’s insane. I don’t even have stop lights in my town. So, seeing freaking these massive mansions and courtyards and stuff, it’s pretty crazy. Do like ultra wealthy here keep to themselves or do they a little bit? Yeah. What’s like your favorite part and the least favorite part about Palm Beach? Favorite part is the beach. Least favorite is the price. What does that bridge signify? The rich people and then everyone else. That’s how we think about it. Oh yeah. Thumbs out for the camera. Is there a lot of opportunity around here? Like do people stay? There’s just like a lot of connections here cuz I mean do you have any billionaire encounters here or do you see them out? You you go walk down Worth Avenue and you can probably touch a couple like on your walk if you just are blind regionality. I mean you don’t know but you know you know what I mean? Yeah. They have a vibe to them that I feel like a lot of people think about it as just like wealth. Like there’s like a lot of humanity in it too which I think is really cool. Like that’s one thing I found. So it’s not just rich Exactly. There’s a lot of like really kind people. I mean you get the rich of course because that’s anywhere that there’s rich people but there’s a lot of people that are really genuine which is it’s cool to see but you know you kind of have to like reach around for it cuz they’re not just going to walk up to you and whatever. Amid a beautiful sunset, we left Palm Beach, driving past a harbor filled with yachts and over the bridge back to reality.

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Edit: We made an error and included b-roll of Okeechobee, Florida at 13:47.

Palm Beach, Florida is the world’s billionaire capital. Home to just 9,000 residents, the island hosts more billionaires than Japan, France, or the UK. We went there to see what life is like, how it’s changing, and where it’s headed.

Source:
We used Forbes National Billionaire ranking: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sylvanlebrun/2025/04/01/the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires-2025/

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0:00 Billionaire Capital
0:41 Palm Beach (FL)
1:28 West Palm Beach
1:44 $3M Lamborghini
2:14 Crossing Bridge
2:27 Luxury
2:52 $50M Yacht
3:21 Are Rich People Rude?
3:43 Summertime Ghost Town
4:02 Interviewing Locals
5:18 LMNT Ad
6:25 $40M Mansion
7:20 Mar-a-Lago
7:42 Jeffrey Epstein’s Street
8:30 Bernie Madoff
8:55 $170M Mansion
9:34 Why This Video Matters
10:39 Ken Griffin’s $1B Estate
11:09 Wall Street of South
12:06 “Affordable” Apartments
13:12 Where do Workers Live?
14:15 Landscaper
17:05 Beach

Episode 59 (says Episode #57)
Subs: 291k subs

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