Elon Musk's X to shut San Francisco office, workers to be relocated

By Kurt Wagner
 

Elon Musk’s X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, will close its San Francisco office, ending the company’s presence in the city where it was founded in 2006.
 

Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino sent an email to employees saying X will move out of its Market Street space in San Francisco, according to a person familiar with the company. Employees will be relocated to an existing office in San Jose and an engineering office in Palo Alto, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the email wasn’t shared publicly. 

X didn’t respond to a request for comment. The New York Times earlier reported the news of X’s office closing.

Musk, who acquired the company in 2022, has been vocal about his disdain for San Francisco and previously blamed the city’s left-leaning culture for making Twitter too liberal. He’s also criticised California Governor Gavin Newsom over state legislation. The billionaire last month said X would relocate its headquarters to Texas, and the company previously put 460,000 square feet of office space up for lease from its base in San Francisco.

The move marks the end of X’s long history in the city where Twitter was started almost 20 years ago. The social-media app has had its Market Street office since 2012 — it agreed to move into the Mid-Market neighbourhood after receiving a special tax break, along with other tech companies. For a time, the area flourished with office workers, busy restaurants and new apartment complexes. 

But the neighbourhood is now struggling as the city copes with the slow return of workers following the Covid-19 pandemic. While the artificial intelligence boom has helped revive the area, San Francisco still has the highest office-vacancy rate among large US metro areas, at more than 36 per cent, according to data compiled by CBRE.

A spokesperson for San Francisco Mayor London Breed said her office is aware of Musk’s plans to relocate employees. “Our focus remains on working with and supporting the many businesses that call SF home, from global headquarters to leading AI companies, and thousands of small businesses,” the spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.

According to the mayor’s office, X is relocating 120 employees to San Jose or Palo Alto, pointing to how little the office space on Market Street was being used. 

Separately, the San Francisco Controller’s office on Monday issued a report showing that for the first time since 2022, the tech industry saw two consecutive months of job growth, adding 8,700 jobs between April and June. Though office vacancy rates remain at historic highs, artificial intelligence companies are creating new demand for commercial space. According to Breed’s office, AI startups OpenAI, Anthropic and Scale AI have cumulatively leased about 4 million square feet in San Francisco this year.