Ellison (right) with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020. (Photo: Public Domain)
Oracle Moving Headquarters Out Of Austin Only 4 Years After Moving Out Of California
‘It will be interesting to see just what, if any, presence Oracle will keep in Austin after the move’
By Evan Symon, April 26, 2024 5:00 pm
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison announced earlier this week that he would be moving Oracle from Austin to Nashville, Tennessee, despite only moving away from California in the first place in 2020.
Originally headquartered in Santa Clara upon it’s founding in 1977, the software giant moved to Redwood Shores in 1989. Oracle became a behemoth while headquartered in California. However, by the late 2010’s, tax issues and non-business friendly practices began to make Oracle rethink staying in California. The pandemic sealed the deal the next year as a more flexible work policy for employees eliminated the need for such a large HQ in California. In December 2020, Oracle announced they would be moving to Texas. Ellison too also left California, making Hawaii his permanent residence. Many companies also followed suit in 2020 and 2021, including Tesla, who also moved to Austin.
“Oracle is implementing a more flexible employee work location policy and has changed its Corporate Headquarters from Redwood City, California to Austin, Texas,” Oracle said in their SEC filing in 2020. “We believe these moves best position Oracle for growth and provide our personnel with more flexibility about where and how they work. Depending on their role, this means that many of our employees can choose their office location as well as continue to work from home part-time or all of the 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. By implementing a more modern approach to work, we expect to further improve our employees’ quality of life and quality of output.”
At the time, Austin was planning on becoming a rival to Silicon Valley. However, after only a few years, tech companies began leaving Austin. High costs, no support for start-ups, the climate, political differences, and numerous other factors led companies to begin fleeing the city. By 2023, the majority of tech companies either withdrew presences from the city, such as Meta who relocated offices back to California, or left completely. Many moves were to Houston, Tulsa, Nashville, Miami, or perhaps most embarrassing, back to the Silicon Valley. While Oracle managed to hold out in 2023, they finally announced their move out of Austin to Nashville this week.
During a conversation with former Senate Majority leader Bill Frist on Tuesday, Ellison accidently said “Oracle will be moving their huge campus to Nashville and it will ultimately be our world headquarters.”
Oracle moving to Nashville
He then added “I shouldn’t have said that.” However, with the move now out in the open, Ellison said that the move would be strategic as Oracle is going more and more into the healthcare industry, with a move to Nashville making it better for them to expand into that industry. While unsaid by Ellison, Oracle is also getting around $250 million in tax breaks from Nashville and Tennessee to make the move.
“Nashville is also a fabulous place to live,” added Ellison. “It’s a great place to raise a family. It’s got a unique and vibrant culture. And as we surveyed our employees, large numbers of employees, Nashville ticked all the boxes. Nashville is also at the center of the industry we’re most concerned about, which is the healthcare industry.”
He also expanded upon the new campus itself. It will be designed by Apple Park designer Norman Foster, but will be more park-like than corporate.
“The new headquarters will be right on the river. It will have office buildings, a community clinic, restaurants, hotels and a concert venue, a floating stage on the lake for concerts to be held for the community. We want to be part of the community. Our people love it here. And we think it’s the center of our future.”
Experts told the Globe on Friday that tech companies moving out of Austin or Texas is now what companies leaving California in 2020 is like.
“A lot of companies moved to Texas, especially Austin, as the state promised a lot of things and they thought Austin was this trendy town,” explained San Francisco-based tech lawyer David Singth. “But, as they found out, a lot of people flat out hated Texas. A lot of companies that moved there were shocked at the number of employees who, a year later when their initial leases were up, wanted to move out and work remotely back in California or elsewhere. They really hated the Texas heat, and home costs were really high still. Not San Francisco high, but still high enough. For companies, especially start ups, they found they had little room to grow in Austin. They were away from nearly all investors who were to give them guidance and they were away from the major tech scenes.”
“That’s why the ‘Texas Miracle’ ended so fast. That’s why AI companies are staying in Silicon Valley and San Francisco despite the numerous problems there. It’s where everyone is at and they can grow faster there. Oracle needed a place to continue to grow, and Austin wasn’t it. It was Nashville because of all the healthcare companies there.
“It will be interesting to see just what, if any, presence Oracle will keep in Austin after the move. Oracle still has a ton of offices in California because they like to be connected to the tech and software communities. But Austin? Not a lot of connection there.”
More on Oracle’s move to Tennessee is to be out soon.
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Like San Francisco, Austin has had decades of Democrat mayors and city council members who have pushed a radical leftist agenda that has resulted in most of the same problems that San Francisco has but without the mild weather that San Francisco has. It’s not surprising that many companies are now leaving? Democrat and their leftist policies are infamous for destroying cities?
what ever go back home I love my texas all yall came from California and Florida are the ones ruining Austin
I hear ya! Leave and don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya. Good riddance!
But who’s gonna teach you and Jim Bob how to read?
Anywhere but California
sure, progressive, climate friendly, liberal policies are just what tech workers hate.
Maybe the toxic and hateful policies of Greg Abbot and his hateful homophobic, war on women’s rights pushing for a total ban on abortion.
Exactly!
If you think abortion is a very important political issue you have problems. To get “accidentally” pregnant in 2024 you have to be trying…
That was the dumbest comment I have read in….well….a couple hours as there is no shortage of ignorant people everywhere.
Do you really believe that all pregnant women actually wanted or even consented to ending up that way? Even if they did, you don’t believe they have the right to choose whether or not to stay that way if their life circumstances change….. ?? Freedom of choice my guy….their body….their choice….. No person has the right to make that choice for them…. especially not a narcissistic, maniacl fool who is blinded by his own arrogance so much so that he perceives his own personal opinions to be the law of the land. Now, many people in Texas think just like him thus he was voted into his present political status but this article is about people moving to Austin thinking it’s a great place to live. However, due to it’s isolated state generated propaganda selling Austin as awesome to people living outside of Texas, once people get here, they are forced to absorb the fact they have been lied to. That tends to rub people the wrong way.
Texas may be for Texans who don’t know any better but for people who are not from Texas….. that do know better, Texas and specifically Austin, is a horrible place to live. The post that inspired this reply is a perfect example….. there are many people here who truly believe that abortion is not a Hot button political issue, that it should not even matter because all women that are pregnant have become that way intentionally thus forfeiting their right of choice in the matter.
Man Austin Texas is awesome…. I can not imagine why anyone would want to leave here once experiencing all the awesome people, the awesome weather and all the affordable housing….. and let’s not forget the Awesome Governor who wants to go to war with the Federal Government and succeed from the rest of America. Ya…awesome place 👍👍.
Lol. You make assertions to the straw man arguments one person used but assert a few of your own. Never mind that your defense for abortion is the same, tired, and easily defeated tropes and lacks any semblance of nuance the topic requires. But this article is not about abortion.
I found some of the reasons given for why people are leaving Austin to be dubious. First, the cost of living is noted as a primary factor. If this were true, companies would not be moving back to California. Second, political reasons were given, but most places mentioned are red-state locations, so this reason doesn’t make sense.
However, as a long-time Texan and Austinite, one reason that rings undeniably true is the heat. Texas is HOT! It’s depressingly hot, and I feel a sense of SAD from May through September.
I think that the most significant reason companies might return to California is because of the entrenched incubator-investor relationships, as well as the entrepreneurial talent at Stanford. It’s these reasons why California, despite a very contradictory political climate (many elite students are anti-capitalists, extremely critical of big business, and as been shown time and time again, quite privileged to the point of demanding that corporate leadership kowtow to their ideology) keeps a California connection.
Austin is a great town. However, like most big cities, it has its fair share of issues. The authentic takeaway from this article is the fact that for the first time in sixty-odd years, big-tech companies have had to consider a more macro view due to the business climate, mainly because California’s politics have reached a political tipping point where progressive groupthink has led to regressive outcomes.
The irony of this article is thick.
For a short time between the Gay marraige suit and the imposition of abortion laws, Texas was a good place to live. That said I lived in Dallas. The atmosphere was energetic and lively. Great place to.get a start in life and buy a home, then Abbott ruined it. The cities are pretty liberal and welcoming, the state government on the other hand is out of touch but then again what state government isnt. I agree with you on the abortion stance. For a short time though Dallas was a pretty awesome place to live, as long as the feds were counterbalancing the radical social agenda of our state leaders everything was great, its sad that Abbott and others had to disenfranchise so many, I never voted for the man and about 45% of us never did, unfortunately that was just shy of enough.
dumb ass liberals. this country is in such a chaotic mess because of how you all think!!
Texas was a great state. fantastic people and housing. then that f–n
Abbott came in. I moved out. live in Nevada now. Would never move back with that asshole governor. Nashville is a beautiful place with great people. understand why Oracle is moving out to Nashville. Congratulations.
I’ll take Texas over Commiefornia every day of the week! And a Governor who gives a shit about Texas and not just himself and his slicked back hair. Newsom RUINED California. And you’re spouting abortion stats that literally apply to 1% of all abortions, so not such a great argument.
Wow…ignorance at its best. Accidentally getting pregnant is not the only reason women seek abortions. Medical reasons where either the mother’s life, the baby’s life, or both…and less frequently, rape. But no matter the reason, a woman has the right to autonomy over her own body. As soon.as MEN lose autonomy over their bodies, then they can have an opinion about it.
Democrat politicians are obsessed with abortion because they want to lower the population of certain groups (like blacks) and it’s a money making enterprise for them. Selling baby parts and fetal tissue is a lucrative business. Democrats are like a ghoulish satanic death cult.
Says the man very seasoned in women’s bodily and mind affairs.
if you’re going to stay in the state of Texas and advocate for women’s rights, please advocate for a woman’s right to have a child and have support from organizations that activists have targeted .Also advocate for a woman’s right to not be raped at the border and or sexually trafficked. You should be advocating the all-inclusive issue and not just pro-abortion.
You like killing babies?
Well said, having lived in Bakersfield for over 30 years coming from Michigan it’s terrible to watch the path of destruction dumbacrats leave behind. Are oil industry here in Bakersfield/Kern County has taken a huge hit for our economy. Having lived in a dumbacratic state of Michigan in the Detroit suburbs watching the dumbacratic politicians line their pockets and not taking care of our communities was terrible. Having went back in 2020 because of my father passing I went around Detroit and Wayne county and I seen no change except for being worse than it was when I left in 89. Having been a cross country truck driver and seeing cities and states ran by dumbacrats, it’s terrible just how much destruction there is. The history of communities being destroyed.
Not to mention the Muslims taking over that area. Bakersfield probably as good a place as any for a conservative resident of California. I’ve had enough watching California get eaten alive by corruption and insanity. I’m outta here.
Not to mention the Muslims taking over that area. Bakersfield probably as good a place as any for a conservative resident of California. I’ve had enough watching California get eaten alive by corruption and insanity for decades. Breaks my heart but I’m outta here.
Oh I see, “the Radical Left Agenda” cliche again. While Larry lives it up in Hawaii, sucking up tax break money, his worker bees deal with constraints of cities and nearby towns with less services and luxury. Even the Biz-speak propaganda of moving the headquarters to Nashville is absurd. Nashville? The center of healthcare industry? What a laughable joke ! Pleased to see yet another American company taking corporate welfare in the form of tax breaks, which further burden the local communities to find the revenue $ they’ve just given away.
With 30 years in Austin and nearly 50 years in tech, here’s my perspectives.
Heat: It gets too darned hot in Texas in the summer. That’s actually a quote from a native Texan. But winters in Austin are spectacular. Come summertime: many do take extended vacations, which is not a bad thing.
Oversold: Absolutely true, from housing to restaurants to education to political climate, Austin being “cool” is a selling meme, not a reality. The climate and limited water supply are not the things of Nirvana. The on-the-stupid-end-of-the-scale, juvenile delinquent (“de-fund the police”) hyper-liberal town council is a future case study for how not to run a city government.
Health care: Regarding Oracle, Houston — a true world-class healthcare center — is just a couple of hours away, and blows away Nashville, so Larry’s age (~80) is showing for that to be an excuse. Regarding abortion…that form of the taking of human life is simply being used as a prophylactic by a morally unfounded generation. Go back to the spiritual hellhole of California if you miss drinking baby blood.
Clariity: If you’re from California, and a closed-minded liberal, just stay where you’re at.
Thank you.
🙄🙄🙄
TJ,
Hmmmm… in the words of you snow bros (snowflakes) there is a “radical and leftist”
mayor running Nashville. The irony is rather delicious. Oh dear, what are the poor tech companies supposed to do now? <- 😂😂😂
The fact that a radical leftist Democrat was installed as Nashville’s mayor in September 2023 probably wasn’t a major factor in Oracle’s decision considering Oracle is getting nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in tax breaks and incentives from the city and the state of Tennessee. No doubt Nashville well on it’s way to become a crime infested hellhole like all other Democrat controlled cities? Unsurprisingly, Nashville’s new Democrat mayor, Freddie O’Connell, is a member of the alphabet mafia. He also looks like a creepy pedo.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/09/15/nashville-election-results-freddie-oconnell-and-historic-council-night/70826110007/
Now put a least two masks on, get your Covid and monkeypox boosters, and hid in your safe place.
You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about… the “leftist policies” in California. Has made it the 5th largest economy in the world… it’s still the hub of innovation and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Austin is nothing more than a bunch of colleges students and honkey-tonks… Texas is a bastion of racists paranoid cowpokes
This is a sophomoric take, Real Man 😂. California indeed has one of the largest economies in the world, and this is due to capitalist-minded entrepreneurs who have created these giant tech companies. And most of these founders are liberals.
The “leftist policy” reason you mock is separate from big business and has more to do with state governance. How individuals are taxed, how the homeless situation is managed, etc., symbolize many things wrong with California.
However, what few can deny is the fact that California has tremendous weather and geographical beauty. This is why California will likely always be advantaged with the ability to attract some of the best and brightest minds to the area. Simple supply and demand will dictate governance, and until supply decides to leave en masse, there is no incentive for the state and local governments to change their policies. People can accept a level of drug use and the periodic run-ins with mentally unstable homeless as long as the surf is up and there is snow at Big Bear.
Finally, your last sentence reeks of racism with broad-brush assumptions, and I think you know that making such accusations is supposed to be a right-wing thing to do. But I believe this proves that anyone can hold bigotry; it’s the irony that makes this laughable.
Um, California isn’t a city. Don’t know if you knew that. And it’s legislative policies have little to nothing to do with its economic growth, other than to stifle it.
let me find a state where I can abuse child labor laws, pay little tax, screw up the environment however I want, payoff corrupt politicians and milk the federal government for all it’s worth. Welcome to Tennessee.
Nashville is also run by Democrats. So the idea Nashville is leaving Austin due to Democratic policy is typical MAGA nonsense.
9 of the 10 poorest states are Republican.
95 of the 100 poorest counties are Republican.
9 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates are Republican.
Republican states are dependent on tax dollar welfare from blue cities. Republican jurisdictions are full of obesity, meth addiction, poverty, dying industry, fleeing youth, trailer trash, gun violence, racism, forced birth, healthcare deserts, low rated colleges, high infant mortality, climate disaster, and high maternal death rates.
Of course upwardly-mobile young professionals are saying no thanks. Of course companies who wrongly thought the grass was greener in Texas are moving back to Silicon Valley.
Climate disaster? LOL! Something only a paid shill for the globalists would say!
EVERY jurisdiction controlled by the criminal Democrat mafia are lawless crime infested hellholes full of mental illness, drug addiction, human trafficking, drug trafficking, poverty, boarded up stores, empty office buildings, closed factories, dying industry, ruthless thugs, gang bangers, forced abortions, food deserts, crushingly high taxes, racist attacks by blacks on Asians, etc.
Very few companies are moving back to the SillyCon Valley because of oppressive taxes, high costs, over-regulation, and the antibusiness policies of the criminal Democrat mafia that controls the state. Besides it sits on an major earthquake fault line.
Sorry. Not buying your statistics. Link?
California:
25% of the nation’s homeless.
One third of the nation’s welfare recipients.
Highest school dropout rate in the nation.
Highest unemployment in the nation.
Highest gas prices in the nation.
Third highest electricity rates in the nation.
Fifth highest violent crime in the nation.
Oh, yeah, the lazy Democrats are doing a wonderful job here. (roll eyes)
Oh, stop it. Try turning off Fox News and being less of a brainwashed idiot.
Who watches Faux news or any of the lamestream legacy propaganda media anymore?
You can’t give these braindead pot smoking leftists facts. It overloads their dead brains.
Funny, they’re not leaving to move to a red city. Your “point” is, sadly, no point at all. But by all means, do stay away from California. It’s so horrible here for y’all.
Maybe they’re leaving or wanting to leave because the state political climate in Texas is hostile to anyone who values freedom of expression or any divergence from extreme right-wing views, have you considered that?
Maybe they’re leaving or wanting to leave because the state political climate in California s is hostile to anyone who values freedom of expression or any divergence from extreme left-wing views, have you considered that?
California has the lowest personal freedom in the country thanks to the Democrats. Democrats have no right to talk about freedom. They are the cause of the demise of it.
Just FYI to the pot smoking braindead Democrats, Tennessee is a much more conservative state than Texas. Maybe the Oracle workers wanted to live in a more conservative state after enduring living in Commufornia.
BS. Political BS. Companies and people go where they think they and their families can do better. Dems suck and so do self absorbed Republicans.
It is brutally hot in Texas during summer. What made it worth it was lower cost of living. Many natives are not for far left policies. Most natives don’t want to become like liberal cities.
Most are happy to see large, liberal tech companies go elsewhere.
The state of Texas paid tens of millions in incentives to Oracle.
This is on Abbott–not Democrats or Liberals.
Texas did something very stupid and is paying tge price literally.
It is Actually what the Governor is doing in Texas. Know the facts. Take off the horse blinders and stopped being a troglodyte. If you know what that word means. It might have gone 20 feet over your head.
Yes, California, especially the San Francisco Bay Area has its problems , but you can’t beat the weather and the diversity in cultures and geography. It can truly be a utopia if we can find ways to solve its social problems.
The source of most of California’s problems is the criminal Democrat mafia that has had almost complete control over the state for years. They use voter fraud and rigged voting machines to keep themselves in power.
Correct. Endless supplies of drug money.
Wow I’m glad I’m seeing this! I knew something was awry with the Tesla announcement 2 weeks ago? 2700 local Austin jobs just vanished! have been here for 8 years but can’t help notice all the vacant commercial and residential structures? And this place was growing as if it was the only destination for relocation of anything. Now just a whole lot of vacancies and for lease signs and they’re still building. The service industry is horribly unbalanced because the wages they earn can’t support housing for the workers in that industry. An average of $50,000 in property (my group, yes) taxpayer money is spent on clearing out homeless encampments in metropolitan Austin and 2 or 3 weeks later they all come right back/Or sprout up in the next nearest “unfenced-off” Forest or Park area. And I get tired of hearing that these are shelter deprived peopke. Austin offers shelters that have rules like no drugs and no drinking and curfew for when to be checked in and these are the folks that absolutely refuse to live by anybody’s rules, so they just squat-Camp wherever they can get away with it Until they are caught. Working on relocating; perhaps I should be in a rush?!
Blame Austin’s Democrat mayor and Democrat City Council for the hellish conditions that are similar to San Francisco’s. Austin’s new Democrat mayor, Kirk Watson, is a leftist lawyer and the Democrat mayor before him, Steve Adler, was also a leftist lawyer who allow the city to become a crime infested hellhole.
Tesla laid off workers across the country after their Cybertruck suffered significant quality issues that put the future of its Austin production facility in doubt. Telsa’s new Cybertruck also apparently rusts in the rain.
That they moved to Austin shows that Oracle just does not get it. Moving to another leftist loonie bin and expecting different results is beyond stupid. Nashville is probably a good choice provided they don’t bring along all their leftist activists pretending to be employees.
I remember those companies moving to Austin, and how the GOPers bragged that Texas was better than Cali, etc. Now it seems the far right can’t figure out how to keep ’em. Check out the border hysteria and 18th Century stand on a woman’s right to choose, and you might have an idea of why some companies check out: GOP. Glory of Putin.😅
The far left can’t figure out how to keep ’em in Democrat hellholes like California, Illinois, New York, etc. Check out the millions of illegal alien replacements flooding across the border and Democrats raising taxes to crazy levels to support them and you might have an idea of why some companies check out: DNC.
DNC and the glory of CCP dictator Xi.😅
Listen pothead Democrat. Tennessee is more conservative than Texax.
yeah the leftist looney bin California runs economic rings around any other state in the union. f’ing grow up.
The only economic industries growing in the leftist looney bin of California are the baby killing industry, the homeless industry, the illegal alien industry, the drug and human trafficking industry, the criminal thug industry and the transsexual mutilation industry. F’ing wake up!
The only people who think “looney bin California runs economic rings around any other state in the union” are pothead Democrats who don’t have functioning brains. California has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. F’ing sober up.
To me this is just a lateral move that will end up being every bit as disappointing as the move to Austin. If he wants to locate his world headquarters in a state with no state income tax, he’s better off staying in Texas. If the healthcare industry is the direction Ellison wants to go, he could just relocate to either Dallas/Fort Worth or Houston where the healthcare industry is well established in both metro areas and highly regarded.
With 30 years in Austin and nearly 50 years in tech, here’s my perspectives.
Heat: It gets too darned hot in Texas in the summer. That’s actually a quote from a native Texan. But winters in Austin are spectacular. Come summertime: many do take extended vacations, which is not a bad thing.
Oversold: Absolutely true, from housing to restaurants to education to political climate, Austin being “cool” is a selling meme, not a reality. The climate and limited water supply are not the things of Nirvana. The on-the-stupid-end-of-the-scale, juvenile delinquent (“de-fund the police”) hyper-liberal town council is a future case study for how not to run a city government.
Health care: Regarding Oracle, Houston — a true world-class healthcare center — is just a couple of hours away, and blows away Nashville, so Larry’s age (~80) is showing for that to be an excuse. Regarding abortion…that form of the taking of human life is simply being used as a prophylactic by a morally unfounded generation. Go back to the spiritual hellhole of California if you miss drinking baby blood.
Clariity: If you’re from California, and a closed-minded liberal, just stay where you’re at.
I would love to agree with you that it is Abbott and his war on abortion because that is one of the reasons I left my home of 36 years, but Tennessee is not that better in those regards. I dare say as well that compared to most major Texas cities the LGBT nightlife was also worse in Nashville. Tennesse didnt really feel more liberal than Texas, to me it felt less. The food scene and nightlife scene in general of Nashville had me missing Dallas. That being said I do blame Abbott for killing the Texas dream, but maybe Texas needs to take a break and reassess if Abbott is that great.
It takes 2 people to make a baby. the majority of the time it is consentual and if a pregnancy happens it’s because they wanted a baby or were just irresponsible. Then if the father has no choice if the baby is aborted then he should have a choice if he should have to pay child support if he doesn’t want the baby. But that won’t happen because to think that wouldn’t be ok or having an abortion because it hampers your lifestyle are the actions and beliefs of a narcissist. it’s all about them not the baby or the father. Having an abortion because of rape or incest or if the momma or babys life is in danger, that would absolutely warrant that action. Nobody talks about my right as a father. I bet if the choice of abortion and a father’s right to not pay child support if he doesn’t want would change the whole narrative.
The REAL REASON these tech companies are leaving Austin is because they can’t attract enough qualified tech talent. A lot of women and gays don’t like the social policies. Non-Christian foreigners (Indians, Pakistani, Chinese etc.) don’t feel welcome. Plus the heat, high cost of living and lack of recreation vs California. Labor goes where it feels it is treated best. Apparently the bosses didn’t think this through. They just thought…hey lower taxes, let’s move.
The reason Oracle is moving to Nashville is because they think they can poach tech workers employed by the healthcare industry. But a lot of those workers want a job for life in healthcare. I don’t think they want to work for a company like Oracle that fires 10% of the workforce each year just to keep people on their toes.
Eventually a lot of these companies will move back to California once they realize that skilled labor has a choice.