August 26, 2024 – According to a report by The New York Times on Saturday, Mask’s X (formerly Twitter) is ending its long-term partnership with San Francisco, but city officials are not upset about it.
In the coming weeks, Musk plans to shut down X’s headquarters in San Francisco and relocate the remaining local employees to areas such as Palo Alto and San Jose, while establishing the new headquarters for X in Texas.
Over a decade ago, San Francisco offered tax breaks to attract Twitter (as it was then known) to establish a “budding” technology hub in a struggling neighborhood called Mid-Market, near City Hall. However, after enduring the COVID-19 pandemic, Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, and subsequent layoffs, the current X headquarters has transformed into a “ghost town.”
David Chiu, the San Francisco City Attorney, stated, “Like most San Franciscans, I believe Twitter’s demise is a positive thing.” Chiu had previously supported the tax incentives to lure Twitter to Mid-Market as a member of the Board of Supervisors in 2012.
Once a symbol of San Francisco as a “startup capital,” Twitter fell out of favor with city officials when Musk publicly criticized the city’s inflexible tax policies and environment. The officials appeared indifferent, indicating they were no longer eager to accommodate companies considering relocation.
Ted Egan, the Chief Economist of San Francisco, noted that due to the significant downsizing of X, its departure would have minimal financial impact on the city.
On August 5th, Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, announced via an internal memo that the company would be shutting down its flagship headquarters in San Francisco within “the next few weeks,” with employees relocating to existing offices in San Jose.
Earlier this year, on July, Musk declared on the X platform his intention to relocate the headquarters of both X and SpaceX from California to Texas. One of the key reasons cited was a new California law prohibiting schools from implementing transgender notification requirements.
