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.
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."
And 𝕏 HQ will move to Austin https://t.co/LUDfLEsztj
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
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.
Join the Conversation