Amazon seeks bids for second headquarters, to invest US$5 bln
WASHINGTON: Amazon announced plans to invest some US$5 billion in a second North American headquarters, in a fresh sign of the phenomenal growth of the diversified US technology giant.
Bids are now being accepted for the second headquarters, to be called HQ2, which will be “a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and chief executive, in a statement.
“Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in up-front and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. We’re excited to find a second home.”
The announcement highlights the extraordinary growth of Amazon, which was founded two decades ago as an online bookseller and has grown into one of the world’s largest retailers, while diversifying into streaming video, cloud computing and other sectors.
The company, which has more than 380,000 employees worldwide, said it would add as many as 50,000 jobs for the new headquarters. It is already the eighthlargest US employer.
Amazon said it will be seeking bids from metropolitan areas with more than one million people – of which there are about 50 in the US – and which offer a “stable and business-friendly environment.”
Proposals are being requested by October 19, and Amazon indicated it would make a decision on the location sometime next year.
The Amazon proposal is likely to spark a bidding war among cities offering tax breaks and other incentives to lure the new headquarters. In 2001, Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago and got some US$60 million in incentives.
Amazon said it would consider “urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent” and is aiming for “communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options.”
The new location “will be a complete headquarters for Amazon – not a satellite office,” according to the company, which added that it would hire new teams and executives for HQ2, and also allow some executives based in Seattle to choose either location.
Amazon’s campus in the northwest US state of Washington currently employs more than 40,000 people scattered across 33 buildings and 750,000 square meters (8.1 million square feet) of office space, according to a company fact sheet.