Oracle will move headquarters to Texas from California

AppleInsider · December 11, 2020 10:12PM

Oracle on Friday announced that it would be moving its headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area in California to Austin, Texas.

Credit: Oracle

The company said that the move would "best position Oracle for growth and provide our personnel with more flexibility about where and how the work," CNBC reported.

In addition to the headquarters move, the company is implementing a "more flexible" employee work location policy. A majority will be able to choose their office location or continue to work from home part or full time.

"In addition, we will continue to support major hubs for Oracle around the world, including those in the United States such as Redwood City, Austin, Santa Monica, Seattle, Denver, Orlando and Burlington, among others, and we expect to add other locations over time," the company said in a statement.

Oracle joins a growing list of tech companies leaving Silicon Valley. Earlier in December, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced a move to Houston, Texas. Dropbox and Palantir Technologies are also in the midst of moving out of the Golden State.

Elon Musk recently moved to Texas, although his companies -- SpaceX and Tesla -- will maintain their primary operations in California.

Oracle is currently still in talks with Walmart, TikTok, and the U.S. government to acquire the U.S. operations of TikTok under a new company based in the country.

sflocal · December 11, 2020 10:22PM

And so the exodus continues. Musk left to Texas, and probably eventually his manufacturing and aerospace, now Oracle. All those professional, high-paying jobs will now flee, along with all the employee income taxes, disposable income, etc.. and all that money now going into the Texas economy.

I'm ashamed to be a Californian. Our progressive, socialistic government has made doing business in California some of the most hostile in the U.S.

I hope more companies leave California to send a message to our legislatures that their out-of-control spending, socialism, and arrogant attitude will turn this state into a has-been. It's already getting there.

Good for Texas. They're doing all the right things, helping to foster business and growth, and best of all, their state government stays out of the way. California was once like that. No more.

jeff_cook · December 11, 2020 10:30PM

Arizona turned Blue because of the exodus from California. Texas is next due to the same effect.

hmlongco · December 11, 2020 10:38PM

sflocal said:

...and best of all, their state government stays out of the way.

I assume that's code for letting corporations and business do whatever the hell they want?

My take on it is simply that office space, cost-of-living and housing has grown so high in the Bay area that moving elsewhere seems like a good deal.

Unfortunately for your rant, in all likelihood the net result of all of those people moving to Austin is that AUSTIN real estate prices are going to start skyrocketing, and that all of those transplanted people are going to want the same level of services they once had in CA.

The same exact thing happened to Colorado and Denver and Boulder a couple of decades ago when the tech boom hit with people moving there from CA... with the same exact result. Housing and COL went up, and the state started going Blue...

jcc · December 11, 2020 10:38PM

Tech moving away will spell the end of America’s dominance in the tech sphere as the previous concentration afforded an environment that was conducive to new ideas and the people that create it.

anantksundaram · December 11, 2020 10:47PM

jeff_cook said:

Arizona turned Blue because of the exodus from California. Texas is next due to the same effect.

Indeed. But the politics of most these folks clusters around the center. They dislike both extremes. If you take a look at who got elected in places like AZ and NH, it’s mostly a bunch of centrists, from both the L and the R.

But, quickly pivoting away from politics, it seems to me Apple’s HQ is destined to be stuck in CA forever. However, a lot of their incremental investments going forward may happen in places like Texas.

anantksundaram · December 11, 2020 10:49PM

hmlongco said:

sflocal said:

...and best of all, their state government stays out of the way.

I assume that's code for letting corporations and I business do whatever the hell they want?

My take on it is simply that office space, cost-of-living and housing has grown so high in the Bay area that moving elsewhere seems like a good deal.

Unfortunately for your rant, in all likelihood the net result of all of those people moving to Austin is that AUSTIN real estate prices are going to start skyrocketing, and that all of those transplanted people are going to want the same level of services they once had in CA.

The same exact thing happened to Colorado and Denver and Boulder a couple of decades ago when the tech boom hit with people moving there from CA... with the same exact result. Housing and COL went up, and the state started going Blue...

Nothing wrong with any that. That is how the political landscape equilibrates.

sflocal · December 11, 2020 10:50PM

hmlongco said:

sflocal said:

...and best of all, their state government stays out of the way.

I assume that's code for letting corporations and business do whatever the hell they want?

My take on it is simply that office space, cost-of-living and housing has grown so high in the Bay area that moving elsewhere seems like a good deal.

Unfortunately for your rant, in all likelihood the net result of all of those people moving to Austin is that AUSTIN real estate prices are going to start skyrocketing, and that all of those transplanted people are going to want the same level of services they once had in CA.

The same exact thing happened to Colorado and Denver and Boulder a couple of decades ago when the tech boom hit with people moving there from CA... with the same exact result. Housing and COL went up, and the state started going Blue...

California has the highest income tax rate in the U.S. What services will Texans want that California "had"? I see California raking in billions of dollars each year, yet our roads and bridges are in shambles, our public schools are broke, yet government workers continue to rake in their high salaries, gold-plated benefits, while telling everyone to stay home, killing businesses while Newsom dines at French Laundry.

Businesses provide jobs. Jobs fuel the economy. How California treats businesses versus Texas is a very different thing. People are moving to Texas too so they must be doing something right.

Yes, people will move to Texas and other businesses and soon causing housing prices to go up. I'll bet Texas will be in a better position to deal with a good problem to have than anything remotely close to what California has done.

Yeah, I have no problem my rant.

spice-boy · December 11, 2020 10:52PM

This is great news, looks like the Democrats will continue to turn Texan into a Blue state. Great for America.

spice-boy · December 11, 2020 10:54PM

sflocal said:

hmlongco said:

sflocal said:

...and best of all, their state government stays out of the way.

I assume that's code for letting corporations and business do whatever the hell they want?

My take on it is simply that office space, cost-of-living and housing has grown so high in the Bay area that moving elsewhere seems like a good deal.

Unfortunately for your rant, in all likelihood the net result of all of those people moving to Austin is that AUSTIN real estate prices are going to start skyrocketing, and that all of those transplanted people are going to want the same level of services they once had in CA.

The same exact thing happened to Colorado and Denver and Boulder a couple of decades ago when the tech boom hit with people moving there from CA... with the same exact result. Housing and COL went up, and the state started going Blue...

California has the highest income tax rate in the U.S. What services will Texans want that California "had"? I see California raking in billions of dollars each year, yet our roads and bridges are in shambles, our public schools are broke, yet government workers continue to rake in their high salaries, gold-plated benefits, while telling everyone to stay home, killing businesses while Newsom dines at French Laundry.

Businesses provide jobs. Jobs fuel the economy. How California treats businesses versus Texas is a very different thing. People are moving to Texas too so they must be doing something right.

Yes, people will move to Texas and other businesses and soon causing housing prices to go up. I'll bet Texas will be in a better position to deal with a good problem to have than anything remotely close to what California has done.

Yeah, I have no problem my rant.

You are forgetting one thing, Texas will never be California in the best way. Taxes improve lives, cities and society at least they did before tax laws were re-writen to only benefit the wealthiest.

NotoriousDEV · December 11, 2020 11:05PM

Ditto - embarrassed to tell people I still live here. But not optimistic the msg will get through to the pols - their egos are too big and they’ll be too busy gaslighting (‘Larry Ellison is a <insert word that means bad person, starts with an R, here>’) to consider their policies are the reason.

sflocal said:

And so the exodus continues. Musk left to Texas, and probably eventually his manufacturing and aerospace, now Oracle. All those professional, high-paying jobs will now flee, along with all the employee income taxes, disposable income, etc.. and all that money now going into the Texas economy.

I'm ashamed to be a Californian. Our progressive, socialistic government has made doing business in California some of the most hostile in the U.S.

I hope more companies leave California to send a message to our legislatures that their out-of-control spending, socialism, and arrogant attitude will turn this state into a has-been. It's already getting there.

Good for Texas. They're doing all the right things, helping to foster business and growth, and best of all, their state government stays out of the way. California was once like that. No more.

NotoriousDEV · December 11, 2020 11:11PM

Did you just snap out of a coma? Since March we in Tech have proved Work From Home works fine. I was not surprised - been running tech teams in 7 world time zones for many years.

The US will always lead; we’re the risk takers, the problem solvers, the innovators; we’re the country where your family name doesn’t limit your life expectations.

jcc said:

Tech moving away will spell the end of America’s dominance in the tech sphere as the previous concentration afforded an environment that was conducive to new ideas and the people that create it.

karmadave · December 11, 2020 11:17PM

Most employees will remain where they are or work from home. My own company, Dell, is based in Austin but has operations globally. This really doesn't change much. Companies will still pay state income taxes, on their local operations, and employees will still pay taxes in the state they reside. That said, I agree that California could take steps to make the state much more business friendly.

JWSC · December 11, 2020 11:54PM

spice-boy said:

sflocal said:

hmlongco said:

sflocal said:

...and best of all, their state government stays out of the way.

I assume that's code for letting corporations and business do whatever the hell they want?

My take on it is simply that office space, cost-of-living and housing has grown so high in the Bay area that moving elsewhere seems like a good deal.

Unfortunately for your rant, in all likelihood the net result of all of those people moving to Austin is that AUSTIN real estate prices are going to start skyrocketing, and that all of those transplanted people are going to want the same level of services they once had in CA.

The same exact thing happened to Colorado and Denver and Boulder a couple of decades ago when the tech boom hit with people moving there from CA... with the same exact result. Housing and COL went up, and the state started going Blue...

California has the highest income tax rate in the U.S. What services will Texans want that California "had"? I see California raking in billions of dollars each year, yet our roads and bridges are in shambles, our public schools are broke, yet government workers continue to rake in their high salaries, gold-plated benefits, while telling everyone to stay home, killing businesses while Newsom dines at French Laundry.

Businesses provide jobs. Jobs fuel the economy. How California treats businesses versus Texas is a very different thing. People are moving to Texas too so they must be doing something right.

Yes, people will move to Texas and other businesses and soon causing housing prices to go up. I'll bet Texas will be in a better position to deal with a good problem to have than anything remotely close to what California has done.

Yeah, I have no problem my rant.

You are forgetting one thing, Texas will never be California in the best way. Taxes improve lives, cities and society at least they did before tax laws were re-writen to only benefit the wealthiest.

I think you meant to say (OK, I know you didn’t but) that JOBS improve people’s lives. And without jobs you get no taxes.

danox · December 12, 2020 12:02AM

karmadave said:

Most employees will remain where they are or work from home. My own company, Dell, is based in Austin but has operations globally. This really doesn't change much. Companies will still pay state income taxes, on their local operations, and employees will still pay taxes in the state they reside. That said, I agree that California could take steps to make the state much more business friendly.

What give away more? The post secondary schools in Texas are second rate when compared to California. Oracle has decided to get the second or third tier student by moving to Texas.

Oracle are they first tier in tech anymore? they won’t find what they need in the Southeastern part of the USA. The west coast prominence doesn’t come from giving away freebies (southeast), the social part, environment, great post-secondary schools, and tolerance plays a big part those don’t exist in the American south or in most of the world.

jdw · December 12, 2020 3:00AM

spice-boy said:
You are forgetting one thing, Texas will never be California in the best way. Taxes improve lives, cities and society at least they did before tax laws were re-writen to only benefit the wealthiest.

"The best way" = "taxes"
The motto of any true socialist.

Now it's time for some reality...

Taxes stand to improve lives, cities and society only when they are tightly limited (not government-regulated, but limited). How so? Flawed human beings frequently spend those tax dollars in unwise and even corrupt ways. That remains true even when pondering collective decisions made by people with the best intentions for society at large. The most effective way to limit misspending is to limit the amount of spending via lower overall taxation (all taxes including income, sales, property, etc.), thereby empowering the individual tax payer to make more effective and meaningful personal spending choices. America is all about individual liberty, and nothing curtails individual liberty when it comes to personal spending like higher taxes -- yes, even taxes created for "the greater good."

With that said, it is important that we all consider the TOTAL TAX BURDEN on MEDIAN INCOMES when considering which state has the highest or lowest taxes. When one does that, considering the higher property taxes of Texas vs. CA, the overall cost of living in a city like Fresno, CA is largely comparable to living in Dallas, TX. Again, tax burdens vary wildly by income, so consult state tax guides for more information.

JWSC · December 12, 2020 3:07AM

danox said:

karmadave said:

Most employees will remain where they are or work from home. My own company, Dell, is based in Austin but has operations globally. This really doesn't change much. Companies will still pay state income taxes, on their local operations, and employees will still pay taxes in the state they reside. That said, I agree that California could take steps to make the state much more business friendly.

What give away more? The post secondary schools in Texas are second rate when compared to California. Oracle has decided to get the second or third tier student by moving to Texas.

Oracle are they first tier in tech anymore? they won’t find what they need in the Southeastern part of the USA. The west coast prominence doesn’t come from giving away freebies (southeast), the social part, environment, great post-secondary schools, and tolerance plays a big part those don’t exist in the American south or in most of the world.

That’s a rather provincial and elitist view of Texas and middle America. And I’ll tell you, you’re wrong. Austin in particular is a powerhouse culturally with its vibrant music scene, its thriving tech industry, and universities. Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio have their own powerful draws for people and business. Do not underestimate the people and the place.

California has its venture capital class, which has given it its edge. But the more industries that take their businesses out of California, the more venture capitalists will follow in exodus. California is living on borrowed time with its willful destruction of its key power infrastructure, resulting in lower-income-unfriendly skyrocketing energy prices. It’s extraordinarily high tax rate and industry crushing regulation has put manufacturing on its knees, driving countless numbers out of work and out of state.

The ethical consequences of wealthy suburban white color desk bound workers dominating the politics of environmental over the economic security of the working class are clear and it does not look good.

tzeshan · December 12, 2020 3:24AM

Bay area has the most expensive housing in US. It is driven out companies. There is an easy solution, rezoning the building code allowing high rise apartments. This will immediately at least double the housing capacity in Bay area. Unfortunately the elected officials and selfish home owners won't allow this to happen.

macseeker · December 12, 2020 3:41AM

Just hope the employees of Oracle doesn't bring the crazy California ideals to Texas. The California ideals will destroy Texas and especially Oracle. Oracle will die then. I'm from Texas but living in California. Yes, very odd. The California State legislation has no idea what reality is about. Newsom is living in his own bubble. From the various news stories, they think they can flaunt the laws and regulations of what we can do. I've had it with state politicians here thinking they're above everyone else. They love to speak with forked tongue. The low and middle class people are the ones the California state government loves to shaft.

Again, I just hope the Oracle employees doesn't bring the California ideals with them. They need to know the true reality outside of California.

Just my thoughts.

proline · December 12, 2020 3:48AM

anantksundaram said:
But, quickly pivoting away from politics, it seems to me Apple’s HQ is destined to be stuck in CA forever. However, a lot of their incremental investments going forward may happen in places like Texas.

That depends if its an actual space ship or not.

bluefire1 · December 12, 2020 3:58AM

jeff_cook said:

Arizona turned Blue because of the exodus from California. Texas is next due to the same effect.

Does that mean California will eventually turn red?😉

Oracle will move headquarters to Texas from California

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