AUSTIN, Texas — After weeks of speculation, Elon Musk’s bid to buy social networking site Twitter was finalized Monday.
This $44 billion sale means Musk has emerged victorious after Twitter’s board initially accused the eccentric billionaire of manipulating the market to complete the purchase.
With Musk at the helm of Twitter, which was introduced in Austin during South by Southwest in 2006, some are wondering if he’ll start a transition of the company’s headquarters to the capital city where he heads his other companies like Tesla, Neuralink and The Boring Company.
Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, told our partners at the Austin-American Statesman that a consolidation of Musk’s properties in the Austin area would make things more functional for each of the companies.
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"He's going to have more and more of his operations around Tesla, and I think down the road there'll be some portion of SpaceX operations, and then ultimately Twitter," Ives said. "It's all part of the Musk structure."
Mark Arend, editor-in-chief of Site Selection Magazine, also told the Statesman that Austin would be a prime location for a new possible Twitter HQ given the pool of talent emerging from the area.
“The University of Texas in Austin would be a major source of skilled labor, as other universities and colleges in the area would be. Companies and employees relocating to Austin would likely enjoy a lower cost of housing, energy and living than many markets, including many in California,” he said.
Not everyone is convinced, though. Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, said there would be no incentives for Twitter’s San Francisco employees to pack up and move down to the Lone Star State.
"You're not going to get the employees from San Francisco to go to Texas. It's a totally different crowd," Kay said. "Managers like Musk and others move to Texas for their own libertarian reasons. They like Texas's lesser regulation and do-what-you-want culture."
Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted at Musk on Monday, saying that Twitter should join his companies in Texas.
It’s unclear if Musk will make an announcement, or if he’s even signaled interest, regarding a Twitter HQ relocation.
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