Vegas Welcomes Billionaire Zillow Co‑Founder Rich Barton

Rich Barton, one of the brains behind Zillow and Expedia, has announced that he will now call Las Vegas home. The announcement came in a post on X, where Barton said his kids have grown up and the family is ready for a new chapter. Barton, who helped start Zillow about twenty years ago, still holds a top position at the company. He is also a co‑founder of Expedia Group and has an estimated net worth of around $1. 2 billion, according to Forbes. Many wealthy people are leaving states like Washington, California and New York. They say that politics, high taxes and what they see as too much government control are pushing them away. In cities such as Seattle, New York and Los Angeles, politicians have talked about or already introduced taxes that target rich individuals.

Real‑estate experts say this trend is real. Darin Marques, a broker and CEO at Virtue Real Estate, points out that buyers from California who spend more than $10 million are now being matched by twice as many buyers from Seattle spending over $5 million. This shift shows that money is moving toward places like Las Vegas. Brian Nugent, a sales director for Ivan Sher Luxury in Summerlin, says the city is already feeling the impact. “People can move wherever they want now that taxes differ, ” he says. “Vegas is growing in many ways, from sports teams to overall city development. ” Other states such as Florida and Texas have already benefited from this migration. Nevada, however, is quickly becoming a favorite for wealthy newcomers because its luxury home market has stayed strong over the past few years.

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