Apollo Global Management picks Austin for tech-focused growth hub

A New York-based investment firm with more than $1 trillion in assets under management has selected Austin for a new strategic growth hub focused on technology, innovation and new business development.

Apollo Global Management stopped short of calling the Austin office a second headquarters, describing it as a “hub built around innovation, emerging technology and the next phase of the firm’s growth.”

It said New York will remain its global headquarters.

“Austin lets us build the next generation of Apollo and Athene, including challenger models for parts of our own business, with the talent, technology and business environment already in place,” Apollo CEO Marc Rowan said in a statement. “That’s why we chose Austin and Texas.”

It cited the state’s concentration of technology, semiconductor, defense, energy and infrastructure companies as factors influencing its decision. It had also considered Nashville.

Athene, which has been part of Apollo since 2022, is the company’s retirement services and insurance business.

Apollo, which had $1.03 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, already has a substantial presence in Texas. 

Apollo-managed funds own about 52% of San Antonio-based Rackspace Technology Inc., taking the cloud computing company private in a $4.3 billion deal in 2016 before returning it to the public markets in 2020. It is far from the Fortune 500 company’s only Texas investment, though.

Earlier this summer, Apollo Sports Capital led a $225 million investment in Dallas-based Pickleball Inc., parent company of the Professional Pickleball Association Tour and Major League Pickleball. The deal valued the company at $750 million and will fund its expansion.

Also this year, Apollo-managed funds acquired majority stakes in Houston-based Bold Production Services, which provides natural gas processing equipment, and Dallas-based Stream Data Centers. In late 2024, it also agreed to buy a 50% stake in a Texas portfolio of solar and battery storage projects from TotalEnergies.

Apollo’s decision to establish a hub in Austin comes as Texas continues gaining ground as a financial center. Charles Schwab moved its headquarters from California to Westlake in 2019 and has a major Austin campus. NYSE Texas opened in Dallas in 2025, Nasdaq Texas launched earlier this year, and the Texas Stock Exchange has received federal approval to begin operations.

The migration to Texas extends beyond Wall Street. Tesla Inc. moved its headquarters to the Austin area in 2021, followed by other Elon Musk-led companies including SpaceX, the Boring Co. and X moving to the state. Chevron Corp. moved to Houston in 2024 and Realtor.com relocated its headquarters to Austin this year. 

Apollo did not disclose where its new Austin office will be located, when it will open, how much it will invest or how many people it expects to employ.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said Apollo’s decision reflects well on the city’s workforce and its role in the innovation economy.

“It’s exciting that young Austinites graduating from our local universities will have yet another place to start their careers, right here at home, without needing to move to the East Coast or elsewhere,” Watson said.

According to its latest regulatory filings, Apollo’s major holdings include Phoenix Education Partners Inc., VanEck ETF Trust-VanEck Semiconductor ETF, Hilton Grand Vacations Inc., ADT Inc. and Grupo Aeroméxico. 

Apollo did not respond to a request for additional comment.