Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos
- Amazon formally announced this week that it would split its upcoming second headquarters - the highly sought after HQ2 - between two sites in Queens, New York, and Arlington, Virginia.
- The news has been met with lots of backlash not only from locals and politicians angry about HQ2's effect on housing prices and city infrastructure, but also from others in the tech industry upset about Amazon's shady decision-making process.
- As part of the deal to land HQ2, the two cities wooed Amazon by promising millions of dollars in tax breaks and cash grants for the tech giant. One tech executive called these monetary incentives "blatant loot" that Amazon was taking from cities.
Jeff Bezos is losing face in the tech community, if the reaction from fellow industry leaders on Twitter to Amazon's HQ2 decision-making process is any indication.
The 14-month long process of Amazon selecting a location for its new headquarters came to an end on Tuesday, when the tech giant said its highly anticipated HQ2 would be split between two cities: Queens, New York and Arlington, Virginia.
The investment that Amazon promised for the chosen HQ2 home - $2.5 billion and 25,000 jobs - will be split between the two cities. But in return, as part of their platform to woo Amazon to select them, the cities are giving the tech giant billions of dollars in tax breaks and cash grants. This deal has sparked outrage from city residents and local politicians, including newly elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator Michael Gianaris, a Queens lawmaker who called the funds a "ransom" that New York was paying.
But it's not just the public that's been vocal in speaking out against Amazon. Playmakers in the tech industry have taken to social media to slam Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for the large amounts of money cities are handing over in exchange for HQ2, as well as for a lack of transparency in the decision making itself.
In a series of emotional tweets, developer David Heinemeier Hansson (of Ruby on Rails fame) called out Bezos, who holds the title of richest man in the world, for extracting "blatant loot" from cities in a move of "total domination." Hansson, who is also the founder of the web development firm Basecamp, questioned Bezos' role as a stakeholder in his company.
But Hansson wasn't the only one on the tech community to slam Bezos. Take a look at some of the other tech leaders who took to Twitter to express their frustration with Amazon:
Read more about Amazon's HQ2 project:
- New York City's top tabloids have weighed in on Amazon HQ2 - and they're leaning into the controversy
- Amazon just unveiled its HQ2 selections, and some locals are furious
- Amazon is forcing New York and Virginia to help it build helipads in return for building 'HQ2' in their states
- New York City has lured Amazon with more than $1.5 billion in incentives - here's what else they agreed to
- 'We were not elected to serve as Amazon drones': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other NYC politicians voice outrage about Amazon HQ2's move to Long Island City
On a personal level, this now means that I'm going out of my way not to buy from Amazon when given a reasonable choice. Convenience is powerful but voting with your dollars is even more so. Please vote responsibly with yours.
- DHH (@dhh) November 13, 2018HQ2 ... and 3 ... are official, after 14 months of gaming the commonwealth. The Amazon HQ2 process was not transparent, but illuminating: Mr. Bezos and his board lack character and code.#nomercynomalicehttps://t.co/szwqCpZsQD
- Scott Galloway (@profgalloway) November 13, 2018New York's hottest nightclub is "HQ2". It has always-on microphones, delivery drones, a prestige TV studio hoping for Emmy nods, heavily-subsidized jobs, MTV's Dan Cortese...
- Anil Dash 🥠(@anildash) November 13, 2018It's utterly unbecoming to see Amazon extract such blatant loot from HQ2 cities. Why the fuck does Amazon need government handouts? Bezos, as literally the richest man in the world, presiding over this is shameful.
- DHH (@dhh) November 13, 2018