Another corporate giant is leaving NJ and critics say high taxes are to blame

⚠️ Samsung Electronics will move its North American headquarters from New Jersey to Texas.

➡️ Critics point to New Jersey's nation-leading 11.5% corporate tax rate as a factor.

🔴 The move follows ExxonMobil's departure from New Jersey just two years ago.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS — Another major corporation is leaving New Jersey.

Samsung Electronics will move its headquarters to the Lone Star State this year, Seoul Economic Daily reported. The new office will be in Plano, Texas, where Samsung already has a campus.

"As part of this strategy, we will be optimizing parts of the organization to ensure our roles and functions align to key business priorities. We recognize such adjustments will have an impact on our people and we will be providing support to those affected," Samsung said in a statement.

Blame for Gov. Mikie Sherrill came swiftly from New Jersey Republicans. Sherrill has received pushback from opposition lawmakers and business leaders for her proposed changes to corporate taxes that would raise an estimated $650 million each year.

The news comes just eight months after the multinational conglomerate opened its new North American headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, which was a relatively short distance from its old headquarters of 30 years in Ridgefield Park.

"That's about how long it took for one of the world's largest companies to decide New Jersey's tax-and-regulation environment wasn't worth it. Today Samsung announced it's moving that headquarters to Texas. Great start @GovSherrillNJ! The ribbon-cutting photos still look great, though," the state GOP Assembly said on X.

The governor's office declined to comment.

Samsung's move fuels debate over New Jersey business climate

New Jersey Business & Industry Association President and CEO Michele Siekerka said the announcement was sad, but not surprising.

"These are the results of decades of anti-business policies in the state. With New Jersey maintaining the highest corporate tax rate in the nation, by far, and its national reputation for business unfriendliness through regulation and other costs and burdens, we have seen our Fortune 500 companies go from 22 in 2018 to 15 in 2025," said Siekerka.

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New Jersey has a graduated corporate tax rate of 11.5%, the highest in the country. Texas does not have a traditional corporate income tax, though it has a 0.75% franchise tax on most large businesses.

ExxonMobil left New Jersey for Texas only two years ago. Clinton had been home to the company's Research and Engineering Technology Center for 144 years. ExxonMobil had paid $3.5 million a year in property taxes. Hundreds of jobs were lost or moved out of state.

"We don't see growth in the future," ExxonMobil commercial portfolio manager Joe Wong said to the Clinton Township Council at a meeting only months before the announcement, MyCentralJersey.com reported. 

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