Elon Musk has revealed that he’s considering the launch of a second headquarters for Twitter in Texas.
Currently, the company’s HQ is in liberal San Francisco, California, which is widely believed to have influenced the company’s left-wing agenda.
While Musk’s critics claim he wants to transform Twitter into a right-wing company, he has always insisted that he wants it to be politically neutral.
By shifting the HQ, Musk could go a long way in ridding the company of its leftist culture.
During an all-hands meeting with Twitter employees, Musk noted that a “dual-headquartered” company would accurately reflect the motive behind his acquisition, according to a report from The Verge.
“If we want to move the headquarters to Texas I think it would play into the idea that Twitter has gone from being left-wing to right-wing, which is not the case,” he told employees.
“This is not a right-wing takeover of Twitter.
“It is a moderate-wing takeover of Twitter.”
Musk, who also leads publicly-traded automaker Tesla and private rocket venture SpaceX, has long warned that social media censorship worsens ideological silo effects.
“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” he previously explained in a statement to Twitter’s advertisers.
Musk added during the meeting that “to be the digital town square, we must represent people with a wide array of views even if we disagree with those views.”
He expects that the social media company will “have a lot of mistakes” and “stabilize over time.”
Musk previously moved Tesla’s headquarters to the Lone Star State after antagonism from officials in California, the electric car manufacturer’s former home.
He said he grew increasingly frustrated as the Democrat-controlled government lockdowns prevented the reopening of his companies during the spring of 2020.
The Tesla CEO called the phenomenon “the final straw.”
Democratic lawmakers and other leftists have balked amid the Twitter acquisition and Musk’s plans to restore free speech to the Big Tech platform.
Musk has been revising Twitter’s content moderation policies to end censorship and promote free expression for all viewpoints.
While a factory for Tesla opened near Austin several months ago, SpaceX has major launch facilities in the region.
Brain-machine startup Neuralink and tunnel construction venture The Boring Company, both projects initiated by Musk, also have operations in Austin.
Some investors had already forecasted that Musk would consider Texas as a new home for Twitter.
Dan Ives, an analyst from investment firm Wedbush Securities, said during an interview with Fox Business that central Texas “has become the foundation of the Musk ecosystem.”
He predicts that “it’s a matter of when, not if, Musk opens up a Twitter Austin office.”
Technology companies are known to establish headquarters near robust talent pools.
According to a report from the Austin Chamber, Austin already has a significant presence from leaders in the industry because of a large student population, the absence of individual income taxes and corporate income taxes, and economic zoning opportunities.
Firms such as Apple, Dell, Meta, General Motors, and Oracle have major corporate and regional headquarters in the area.
Beyond the discussion about relocating the company, Musk told employees that mass dismissals at Twitter would cease.
Although he reduced payroll by half and fired several executives in the days after he purchased the company, Musk encouraged workers to refer individuals skilled in engineering and sales.
“In terms of critical hires, I would say people who are great at writing software are the highest priority,” he said during the meeting.
