Trouble in the world's tech capital has seen executives look for moves beyond the US
San Francisco’s millionaire tech entrepreneurs are quitting the city in favour of London amid soaring crime rates in Silicon Valley.
Once a vibrant city, in recent years San Francisco’s citizens have “grown disenchanted” with its rife opioid usage, disproportionate rate of homelessness and rising crime, private bank Coutts warned.
San Francisco’s police department has counted 20 homicides so far in 2023, up 25pc compared with the same period last year. Robberies are also up by 15pc.
The latest high-profile crime involved Cash App founder Bob Lee, who was allegedly stabbed to death by the brother of a woman he reportedly met at an elite underground sex and drug party scene.
After Mr Lee’s death, Twitter boss Elon Musk dubbed “violent crime” in San Francisco “horrific”. Twitter is headquartered in San Francisco, alongside major tech firms such as Uber, Airbnb, and Salesforce, while Meta – the owner of Facebook and Instagram – sits in the Bay Area.
In the past year, US buyers have become the largest group of overseas buyers in prime central London, taking the top spot from Chinese buyers, and the French in 2020.
In the year to April 2023, US buyers represented 7.6pc of all overseas sales. This was up from 3.9pc in the previous 12-month period, according to estate agency Knight Frank.
Coutts, as well as Knight Frank, have said the influx of tech workers from San Francisco was one of the primary reasons for a boom in American buyers in London.
Annie Ingram, a private banker at Coutts, said: “Tech workers have grown disenchanted with San Francisco.”
She put this down to a mixture of crime rates in richer areas, chronic homelessness – 1pc versus 0.2pc in the rest of America – and the rising level of unemployment, which has ticked up around 1pc over the past year.
Cash App founder Bob Lee was reportedly found stabbed and unconscious by police outside a luxury apartment building in Rincon Hill, an area in San Francisco where the median household income is around $208,000 (£167,000), according to US property portal ZeroDown.
Ms Ingram said living in San Francisco now “seems less safe” to Coutts’ high-earning, overseas clients, who she said are “looking beyond the US now”.
London’s extensive prime property market, six airports, and much-sought-after education system for those with children are just some of the draws for San Francisco’ tech workers, experts said.
Ms Ingram said “political challenges” in the US could also have a part to play. She explained: “Difficulties in the UK right now seem minor compared to other countries’ challenges.”
Rupert des Forges, Knight Frank’s head of prime central London developments, said 1 Grosvenor Square in Mayfair was one popular location among US tech buyers. A two-bed, two-bathroom flat in the complex is currently on the market for £11.5 million.
Other popular destinations for tech buyers include St John’s Wood, Regents Park, Kensington and Belgravia.
Mr des Forges said: “America’s west coast is definitely a factor in the London prime property market in a way it wasn’t five years ago. And once you get a cohort of owners in London, their friends come.
“A lot of it is actually tiers below chief executive too. Top-performing developers can make fortunes at very young ages on shares. While it’s tax-efficient to take debt against the property, all of these buyers can do these transactions in cash.”
The youngest member of this buyer cohort to come to London using Knight Frank was aged just 21.
Last year, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri moved to Kensington to work at Meta’s new offices in King’s Cross, reportedly driven by a desire to live in London. He later was asked to return to the US by his employer.
Daniel Daggers, founder of real estate agent DDRE Global, said he had seen a lot of people leave San Francisco for Britain. “London is the first port of call outside of the US.
“International tech entrepreneurs are more mobile than ever before. They’ve got an opportunity, post-massive valuations, to raise their children in a global world. London is their perfect hopping point to Europe.”
Mr Daggers said that many tech bosses in San Francisco were concerned at the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House. He said this would “expedite” decisions by liberal tech workers to move out of America.
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