Elon Musk Closes X San Francisco Office, Citing Issues with California Law, 'Drug Addicts'
By Danielle Ong
Aug 05, 2024 11:52 PM EDT
Industry
The new Twitter logo rebranded as X, is pictured in Paris on July 24, 2023, on the account of it's owner Elon Musk, after he changed his profile picture late on July 23, 2023, to the company's new logo, which he described as "minimalist art deco," and updated his Twitter bio to "X.com," which now redirects to twitter.com. Twitter launched its new logo on July 24, 2023, replacing the blue bird with a white X on a black background as the Elon Musk-owned company moves toward rebranding as X. Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq. (Photo : ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)
X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, is now preparing to shut its San Francisco office and move to Texas, according to an internal email sent to employees on Monday.
In the email, X's chief executive Linda Yaccarino said the company's workers would be moved to existing offices in San Jose, CA as well as a "new engineering-focused shared spare with xAI," Musk's artificial intelligence startup.
"This is an important decision that impacts many of you, but it is the right one for our company in the long term," Ms. Yaccarino wrote to employees in the email, as obtained and first reported by The New York Times.
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What Led to the Move
It was not immediately clear whether there were any financial aspects that led to the move. However, Musk last month said he would move the company's headquarters to Texas after California passed the SAFETY Act---a law that prohibits school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents if their children change their gender identification.
"This is the final straw. Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas. X HQ will move to Austin," he wrote in a series of posts on X. "Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building."
@twitter|https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1813295489032622586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw@
X's move could also be in response to a lawsuit filed by landlords of its headquarters in February. In that lawsuit, X was sued for $13.6 million in unpaid rent at the location. That followed a previous lawsuit over unpaid rent on the location. The first suit was later dismissed.
In addition to skipping rent, X also reportedly illegally added sleeping quarters to the building for employees working long hours.
X's departure from its San Francisco office represents a symbolic blow to the city, which has recently seen an exodus of tech firms. Since 2019, at least 20 large tech firms have already cut the amount of office space rented in downtown San Francisco, including Airbnb, Block, Lyft, Meta, Paypal, Salesforce, and Snap, per The San Francisco Standard.
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