Texas Emerges as America's New Financial Powerhouse, Challenging Wall Street's Century-Long Dominance
Texas continues to establish itself as the future financial hub of America through its aggressive development of stock exchanges, corporate relocation initiatives, and rapid expansion of financial services, challenging New York’s traditional dominance.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission granted national securities exchange approval to the Texas Stock Exchange in September 2025, enabling trading operations to begin in early 2026. The establishment of NYSE Texas in Dallas in 2025 and Nasdaq’s decision to locate its regional headquarters in the metroplex have led to the development of a comprehensive financial infrastructure in Texas that can rival the historic institutions of Manhattan.
Governor Greg Abbott declared that Texas would establish itself as America’s financial hub when he announced the creation of NYSE Texas, noting that the state now has the nation's strongest economy. The Texas economy generates more than $2.6 trillion in annual output, ranking it as the world’s eighth-largest economy if the state were to operate independently.
Three Exchanges Converge on Dallas
The Texas Stock Exchange is the state's most aggressive financial initiative, having secured $161 million from major institutional investors, including BlackRock, Citadel Securities, Charles Schwab, and Fortress Investment Group. The SEC filings show that TXSE has the most significant investment commitment, making it the best-funded exchange to file for registration with the Commission.
The capital markets practice group at Gibson Dunn in Houston has Hillary Holmes as its Houston-based partner, who told Reuters about the exciting moment when a new national securities exchange received SEC approval after many years. The Texas Market Center in downtown Dallas serves as the headquarters for TXSE, which plans to create more than 100 jobs and will welcome dual listings of NYSE and Nasdaq companies, ETFs, and ETPs.
Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren holds a majority ownership stake in TXSE Group Inc. At the same time, the board consists of former Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard W. Fisher, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former SEC Commissioner Rick Roberts, and Citadel Securities global head of strategy Alex Bussandri. The exchange plans to offer competitive fees and modern listing rules and trading systems that meet market requirements, while focusing on regulatory work to enhance transparency and compliance.
The New York Stock Exchange launched NYSE Texas, a digital equities exchange based in Dallas, by relocating NYSE Chicago's operations to Texas. The state of Texas hosts the most NYSE-listed companies, which together represent $3.7 trillion in market value, making expansion through Texas unavoidable.
Nasdaq joined the market expansion effort by establishing its first regional headquarters in Dallas in March 2025 to strengthen its presence in this emerging financial center. Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman announced the company’s commitment to Texas, noting that it is the preferred exchange for innovative Texas businesses.
Nasdaq operates in Texas and the Southeast, generating $750 million in annual revenue while supporting 800 companies from its 2,000 listed clients. The Dallas headquarters will perform listing acquisition functions while implementing Nasdaq technology and financial crime-prevention systems to help clients detect fraud and prevent money laundering.
Corporate Migration Reshapes Business Geography
The exchange expansions coincide with 200 companies moving their headquarters to Texas since 2020, reshaping America's business landscape. The Governor’s office reported that 121 companies relocated to Texas during the “acceleration period,” which spanned from 2020 to 2021. The majority of business relocations during this period originated from California.
The list of major corporations that have set up Texas headquarters includes Tesla, which moved from California to Austin in 2021. SpaceX relocated from California in 2024, and Chevron plans to shift from San Ramon, California, to Houston in 2024. Oracle moved from Silicon Valley to Austin in 2020, Hewlett Packard Enterprise relocated from California in 2020, and Charles Schwab established its headquarters in Westlake after leaving San Francisco in 2021.
The analysis by Reuters shows that Texas has become the destination for major corporate relocations, which continue to grow throughout 2025. The KFC U.S. corporate office employees of Yum! Brands will move from Louisville, Kentucky, to the KFC and Pizza Hut Global headquarters in Plano, Texas, in February 2025. Frontier established its new headquarters in Dallas after leaving Connecticut in 2023.
The Governor’s Cup award is based on 2024 data, which shows 1,368 qualified capital investment projects. The Business Texas analysis, which ranks the most job-creating relocation and expansion projects in the United States, predicts that the Lone Star State will enter 2025 with economic stability, driven by its attractive business environment, qualified workforce, and modern infrastructure.
Financial Services Sector Surges
The financial services industry in Texas is experiencing strong growth due to its attractive business environment, rising population, and expanding economic base. The financial sector, which includes banking, insurance, investment services, and fintech companies, generates more than $120 billion in annual revenue for the state.
The sector maintains 800,000 workers who deliver vital services that support Texas’s wide range of economic activities. The number of finance and insurance businesses in Texas increased by 7,394 companies from 2010 to 2019, representing a 21 percent growth rate. The finance and insurance sector added 103,254 workers to its workforce, a 23 percent increase from 2010 to 2019.
Texas maintained its position as the leading state for finance and insurance employment in 2019, with 548,516 workers, and became the second-largest state in total establishments at 42,201. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reports that Texas finance and insurance GDP reached $180.98 billion in the second quarter of 2025, up from $175.79 billion in the first quarter.
The financial sector in Texas attracts major institutions like Charles Schwab, JPMorgan Chase, and Fidelity Investments, while fintech startups are developing a new, innovative sector that will drive future expansion. Industry experts state that Texas attracts financial institutions due to its attractive tax environment and the availability of qualified personnel.
Tech and AI Boom Accelerates Growth
The financial sector's expansion occurs during a period of rapid technological and artificial intelligence development, transforming Texas's economic structure. The North Texas region has become a major technology center, with the Dallas metro area leading all other cities in STEM wage growth at 32.7% annually, surpassing traditional tech hubs such as San Jose and San Francisco.
The state of Texas will create 40,051 new technology jobs in 2025, while the Dallas area will generate 14,000. The Texas Association of Business President and CEO Glenn Hamer stated that Texas innovation efforts make rural and urban areas throughout the state leaders in the technology sector economic development.
The economic projections indicate that Collin County will surpass the entire Texas economy in 2050. The Texas Association of Business commissioned Prestige Economics to conduct a study showing that Collin County will generate 10% of Texas's GDP, employ 7% of the workforce, and attract 6% of the state's population by 2050. The study shows that Collin County will generate GDP equal to Missouri’s current GDP while producing three times Oklahoma's economic output.
The North Texas region has become the leading destination for data center investments because companies want to establish digital infrastructure for artificial intelligence operations. The $700 million 425,000-square-foot facility at Aligned Data Centers in Plano serves as the headquarters for Lambda Inc., which receives backing from Nvidia through its cloud computing operations. The $4 billion AI data center campus in Texas represents a groundbreaking project because it unites power generation with computing infrastructure for the first time.
The economic growth of Texas over the next 30 years will be driven by artificial intelligence and automation, as well as data center development, which will generate substantial productivity gains, according to Jason Schenker, who leads Prestige Economics and wrote the Collin County study.