Francis Suarez proud of FIFA president’s adopted Miami native Gianni Infantinowill be held in the upcoming American Business Forum——The same goes for Infantino new friends, president donald trump. Suarez, who briefly ran a republican presidential campaign In 2023, praise Trump in the comments wealthCalling the president “one of the most important political and business leaders of our time,” Suarez added that his views on leadership, global business and America’s role in the world “will be a defining part of this year’s forum. We are honored to welcome him to Miami.” Suarez also revealed wealth He’s proud that Miami will host the second-most World Cup games next summer, including the bronze medal game.
After nearly eight years in office, the outgoing mayor is proud to have achieved his ambition to make Miami a “capital capital,” he said in an interview wealth It “grew from Latin America’s capital to a truly great global city.” Suarez had a lot to say about potential next New York City mayor Zoran Mamdani, including his campaign to force FIFA to change its ticket pricing strategy.
“This is a bit of government overreach, isn’t it?” Suarez said. While offering an important warning, he noted that he was not familiar with the specifics of Mamdani’s campaign, Accused FIFA of “price gouging” Suarez also urged it to reserve 15% of tickets at a discount for working-class New Yorkers and shift focus to discussions on housing policy. “You see this in the context of rent control or price control,” he said, the first of many he would launch into what was happening in New York City politics. “In the short term, they look good, like it makes you feel good, right? Like, hey, we’re going to control the price.”
As far as he is concerned, Mamdani framed This issue is one area where governments should try to intervene. “Are working-class New Yorkers really going to be able to attend any games?” He has publicly askedaccuses FIFA of “keeping working people away from the game they love” and urges other cities to join him in taking a stand against what he calls unchecked greed, as his campaign title suggests, “greed game over“.
Mamdani claimed that FIFA’s dynamic pricing model amounted to “price gouging” for tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup – which will take place in 16 cities with eight matches and the final in MetLife Stadium – Prices range from $60 to $6,730, with prices adjusted based on demand. Mamdani’s petition calls for a cap on resale prices, similar to regulations recently passed by host country Mexico, placing the fight within a broader movement to protect working people from rising costs.
Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. wealthe.But JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and wealth In early October Washington, D.C. Most Powerful Women Summitand offers some thoughts on how Mamdani is viewed by the business class just weeks after the mayoral election. Dimon said he would help Mamdani if elected. Dimon called Mamdani’s Democratic Socialist movement “actually more Marxist than socialist,” citing reports of conversations between the two men and Mamdani’s widely reported charm offensive against New York’s business class. Mamdani “talked to a lot of people and he convinced a lot of people that he would change (and) that he wanted to learn.”
Open for business
As for Suarez, Popular Two-term Republican mayors have long insisted that government be open to business and limited in scope. “When the government intervenes,” Suarez told wealth“The result is often disaster, chaos.” He said, on the other hand, he believes that Miami is “a rising tide lifts all boats,” noting that its unemployment rate is extremely low (2.9% as of August) and mid-level wage growth (asana discovery This was the highest in the country between 2020 and 2023, exceeding inflation).
suarez told wealth He believes he became a successful mayor because of thoughtful policy choices that kept government focused on narrow quality-of-life issues, a business-friendly attitude and an attitude of striking while the iron was hot. he reminded wealth it all starts with Viral Tweets of December 2020when he was seriously considering the idea of transforming South Beach into Silicon Valley. This fell well behind his goals when all he wanted to do was help Miami transition away from an industrial economy. He said the tweet helped him realize “there’s an inflection point where we can achieve hyperscale.” He said he had the opportunity to compress 30 years of growth into just three or four years, and he would be proud to be remembered as the social media mayor.
Suarez said he was wary of Mamdani. “My parents are from a country (Cuba) where there is a Young, charismatic leaders have made the same commitment. He did create equality: He created equality in pain, suffering, and poverty. ”
Still, Suarez and Mamdani have some things in common, not least their reputation for being photogenic and social media savvy, despite their opposing political stances. When pointing out this dynamic, specifically the central role of social media in the campaign, Suarez said he “thinks it’s true,” while quickly clarifying that “presumably any young person would be great on social media, right?” Suarez would rather talk about what he thinks Mamdani is ultimately selling to likely voters. Something: “Are you selling a future that makes things better, or are you selling a path to destruction? I think he’s selling a path to destruction, whether he does it intentionally or not, whether he actually believes he can make things better. I don’t know. I don’t know him personally.”
Suarez is eager to talk about the top people he has recruited in Miami, whether billionaires, celebrities or major employers. He noted that in addition to Infantino, the city has also attracted Amazon Founder Jeff Bezoshall of fame quarterback tom bradyfootball superstar Lionel Messiand hedge fund billionaires Ken Griffin. “These are people who could have lived anywhere in the world, but they chose to live in Miami.” Suarez noted that as the first native-born mayor of a city known for being made up of adopted Miamians, he was an outlier.
The mayor also listed Miami business leaders, including BlackRock, black stoneCitadel have opened local offices and even headquarters there. “We attract companies with nearly $13 trillion in assets under management,” he said, adding prestigious conferences and attractions like formula one racing and new miami international football stadium. Suarez acknowledged that it all puts a strain on Miami’s infrastructure, saying Miami is in part a victim of its “being” targets.south wall street“There’s definitely gentrification happening in Miami,” he said, and it’s become expensive.
In fact, UBS Global Wealth Management Annual Report real estate bubble indexThe Bubble Risk Index, released in late September, ranked Miami at the top of the global “Bubble Risk Index,” supporting Suarez’s contention that during his tenure, Miami experienced explosive growth and became a truly global city. The U.S. cities closest to Miami on UBS’s list are Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. The Swiss bank noted that bubble risk has actually declined in Miami since 2024, with Miami and equally sunny and affluent Dubai leading the way over the past five years, with average real price growth of around 50%.
Of all the frothy real estate markets, Miami has had the strongest inflation-adjusted home appreciation over the past 15 years, UBS found. Affordability remains near historic lows, but housing inventory has rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels as of 2025. “Miami’s coastal appeal and favorable tax environment continue to attract newcomers from the western and northeastern United States,” and international demand remains strong, particularly from Latin America, the report noted.
Suarez blamed the rise in home prices on too many New Yorkers moving in. “It really puts pressure on our affordability as people come in. We used to be a lot more affordable than New York until all the New Yorkers came, and now we’re pretty close in price.” He said he thinks that will continue under Mamdani’s possible mayoralty. “My sense is… as interest rates come down, plus people flee New York, there’s going to be another wave. You feel it, you feel it, it’s going to have a 20%, 30% impact on values.”
Real estate agents in suburban New York say they are seeing “Mamdani effect“More moderate and conservative New Yorkers fled before the Mamdani election, and a local company’s home contract sales surged 15% year-on-year.” Alexander Carter, a licensed real estate salesperson at the Corcoran Group, previously said that within the city, wealth She said she had “never seen this kind of reaction to a mayor” because she had worked in the real estate industry for three or four different terms. “It was pretty intense. After he won the primary, we had a company-wide call for a ‘rent freeze’ to have an impact on the business.” The Mamdani effect, she said, boiled down to one thing: “People were worried it was bad for business.”
Suarez insists he doesn’t want Miami to succeed and New York to fail. “I think you want every great American city to be successful.” New York City, by the way, is the only metro area to host more World Cup games than Miami — all across the river in nearby New Jersey. Although President Trump has Recent hints he will seek to cancel World Cup matches Coming from a city he didn’t like. Miami certainly won’t be one of them.