Claim:
The New York Stock Exchange was moving to Texas due to Zohran Mamdani winning the New York mayoral election in November 2025.
Rating:
In early November 2025, days after self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York mayoral election, a rumor spread that the New York Stock Exchange — the world’s largest public marketplace for trading stock — was moving to Texas due to his victory.
For example, one Facebook page claimed the NYSE was moving because Texas had “the second largest GDP,” while an X user said Mamdani’s win resulted in financial institutions leaving New York City, resulting in Republican states getting “the money, jobs and businesses.” The Facebook post’s caption, which quoted a TikTok user’s video (archived), read in part:
Wall Street isn’t just moving South — it’s escaping.
Woman: “So what happens when New York City elects a socialist mayor who promises to tax the rich? I’ll tell you. Wall Street becomes Y’all Street. The New York Stock Exchange is moving out of New York and into Texas. You see what had happened is that the New York Stock Exchange had filed its relocation in February of this year because polls had come out in January showing that Mamdani was more than likely going to be the winner. And Mamdani’s whole campaign was: tax the rich, make them pay their fair share. But you see, the rich then said, ‘Uh-uh, not today Satan,’ and packed up and moved down south, where we don’t punish people for being successful.”
(Facebook user “Donald Trump for President”)
In short, the NYSE was not moving all its operations to Texas due to Mamdani winning the New York mayoral race. If it were true, this would have been widely covered by news media outlets as a major financial news story, but this was not the case. In February 2025, the NYSE did file to relocate its Chicago operations to Texas; however, it will continue to maintain its location in New York. As such, we have rated this claim as false.
Searches of Yahoo, Google and Bing produced no evidence of reputable news media outlets reporting on the entire NYSE leaving New York for Texas. In mid-February 2025, an NYSE news release on the Intercontinental Exchange — a company that operates global financial markets and exchanges including the NYSE — said the NYSE was launching NYSE Texas, “a fully electronic equities exchange, headquartered in Dallas.”
Snopes contacted the NYSE and Intercontinental Exchange. A spokesperson for the former confirmed the stock exchange was not moving to Texas in its entirety and noted that NYSE Texas opened in Dallas on March 31, 2025. Trump Media & Technology Group was the first company to list its stocks on the exchange. We will update this article if the Intercontinental Exchange replies.
Lynn Martin, NYSE president, described the launch as an expansion: “As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over $3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere. We are delighted to expand our presence in the Lone Star State, which plays a key role in driving our U.S. economy forward.”
The NYSE was actually moving its Chicago operations to Dallas. The news release stated: “NYSE Chicago will reincorporate in Texas and be renamed NYSE Texas, offering companies the opportunity to list their securities on NYSE Texas.” According to the news release:
Building on the NYSE’s 230 years of experience as the world’s leading exchange operator, the launch of NYSE Texas will provide public companies with a listing and trading venue centered within the vibrant economy of the southwestern U.S. With this launch, NYSE Texas will deliver a listing exchange to companies incorporated both in Texas and around the world that are attracted to Texas’ growing population, strong economy and business-friendly regulatory agenda. The NYSE plans to make regulatory and corporate filings to effect the reincorporation in the near term.
On Feb. 12, 2025, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said about the launch:
Texas is the most powerful economy in the nation, and now we will become the financial capital of America. With the launch of NYSE Texas, we will expand our financial might in the United States and cement our great state as an economic powerhouse on the global stage. I thank the New York Stock Exchange for choosing Texas. Working together, we will continue to advance pro-growth economic policies that allow entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive and will make Texas stronger and more prosperous than ever in the history of our great state.
As of this writing, Dallas was emerging as a financial hub with a new national securities exchange, the Texas Stock Exchange, set to launch in 2026 and Nasdaq announcing in March 2025 that it would open a new regional headquarters in the city.
NYSE’s February announcement took place nine months before the New York mayoral election, and before Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June. At the time, Mamdani was far from being the frontrunner. Emerson College Polling, a nonpartisan polling center, released a poll on Feb. 7 showing that he was in last place, with only 1% support. There was no evidence the NYSE’s announcement was tied to the possibility of Mamdani becoming mayor.
Snopes has covered numerous stories regarding Mamdani, including one claim that the Islamic State endorsed his campaign, another that his city-run grocery stores would not sell alcohol, cigarettes or lottery tickets because of Islamic law and a rumor that he fabricated a story about his aunt facing Islamophobia after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Sources
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“Governor Abbott Celebrates Launch Of NYSE Texas.” Governor of Texas. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-celebrates-launch-of-nyse-texas. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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Hughes, Jennifer, and Myles McCormick. “NYSE to Relocate 143-Year-Old Chicago Stock Exchange to Texas.” Financial Times, 12 Feb. 2025. https://www.ft.com/content/dd621c8c-ad20-4092-bfac-fcdf497ef143. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
Miller, Dean. “Fact Check: NYSE Did NOT Announce It Is Fleeing Mamdani’s NYC, Relocating From Wall Street To Texas — All-Electronic Dallas Branch Was Announced Eight Months Before Election Day.” Lead Stories, 8 Nov. 2025, https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2025/11/fact-check-nyse-is-not-relocating-from-nyc.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
Mumford, Camille. “New York City Mayoral Poll: Cuomo Leads Primary, Adams Faces Low Support Amid High Unfavorability.” Emerson Polling, 7 Feb. 2025, https://emersoncollegepolling.com/new-york-city-mayoral-poll-cuomo-leads-primary-adams-faces-low-support-amid-high-unfavorability/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
Nasdaq, Inc. (2025). Nasdaq Deepens Commitment to Texas with Additional Client Investment Across the Region | Nasdaq, Inc. Available at: https://ir.nasdaq.com/news-releases/news-release-details/nasdaq-deepens-commitment-texas-additional-client-investment. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
“New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).” LII / Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/new_york_stock_exchange_(nyse). Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
“NYSE Texas.” NYSE. https://www.nyse.com/markets/nyse-texas. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
“NYSE Texas Opens for Business.” Intercontinental Exchange, 31 Mar. 2025, https://ir.theice.com/press/news-details/2025/NYSE-Texas-Opens-for-Business/default.aspx. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
Oreskes, Benjamin, et al. “How Mamdani Built a Winning Campaign in One Short Year.” The New York Times, 5 Nov. 2025. New York. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/04/nyregion/zohran-mamdani-wins-nyc-mayor-election-timeline.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
Rascouët-Paz, Anna. “Did Mamdani Say City-Run Grocery Stores Won’t Sell Alcohol, Cigarettes or Lottery Tickets?” Snopes, 6 Nov. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/mamdani-grocery-stores-alcohol/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
“The New York Stock Exchange to Launch NYSE Texas.” Intercontinental Exchange, 12 Feb. 2025, https://ir.theice.com/press/news-details/2025/The-New-York-Stock-Exchange-to-Launch-NYSE-Texas/default.aspx. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
“What Is Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and How Does It Work?” Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intercontinentalexchange.asp. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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