On Tuesday, Elon Musk, Twitter’s billionaire owner, hinted that the company’s headquarters could move out of San Francisco.
When asked whether the headquarters will remain in the California city during a virtual appearance at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London, Musk was evasive.
This may be timed as a threat to city officials to not harass the CEO with an investigation into zoning and safety violations.
If the city wants to get strict with Musk, he would simply pull up stakes and leave.
Last Monday, San Francisco officials revealed that they are investigating Twitter following allegations from six former employees that Musk’s team broke regulations by converting Twitter’s headquarters into a “Twitter Hotel.”
After Musk sacked or laid off over 80% of Twitter’s personnel base, the aim was to establish sleeping quarters for workers who were driven to stay up late working on the social media network.
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection has announced a new inquiry into the claims.
The former Twitter employees claim that Musk and his colleagues illegally altered the company’s headquarters in a 1930s Art Deco skyscraper in the heart of San Francisco. The lawsuit claims the defendants disabled exit signs and installed locks that could not be opened in an emergency.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, a manufacturer of electric vehicles and solar panels, relocated the company’s headquarters to Texas from California in 2021. The decision came after a disagreement with health officials in Alameda County, California, about reopening a Tesla factory at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.
GroupM, an advertising firm that counts Coca-Cola Co. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google as clients, no longer considers Twitter “high risk,” a label bestowed on the platform after Musk assumed control. This is most likely because Musk has hired Linda Yaccarino, an ad expert, as Twitter’s new CEO.
