• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis scoffed at efforts to bring Twitter to the state.
• DeSantis stated that a Twitter HQ in Florida would drive up the cost of living.
• Twitter’s headquarters are in San Francisco but it has received calls from other states to move.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis discouraged Twitter from bringing its headquarters to the state following Elon Musk’s privatization of the platform, Jacksonville outlet News4JAX reported.

At a press conference Monday, DeSantis said the company will bring between $15 and $20 million in profit to the state when Musk is officially the owner of the platform due to the state’s investment in Twitter. But he said actually welcoming the company into the state would result in a higher cost of living for residents of the Sunshine State.

“In Florida, I think we’ve done very well, particularly over the last few years, attracting businesses that are producing things,” DeSantis said. “Importing some tech company from San Francisco has not been high on our list. I think that what happens is they’ll tend to come in, they drive up the cost of living for everybody else. Yeah, they enjoy our lower taxes but you know, what is what are they really providing?”

Twitter approved Musk’s offer to buy the company for $43 billion outright on April 25. Musk has received calls from lawmakers and constituents of different states to move the Twitter headquarters from San Francisco.

Opposite DeSantis, some Florida lawmakers and residents have encouraged Musk to relocate to Florida.

“Join me in inviting @elonmusk to move @Twitter to the freest state in the nation! Florida would benefit the company as a whole — we have no state

income tax

and the perfect business climate. It’s time to book a one way (SIC) ticket,” Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a tweet.

—Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) April 29, 2022

Patronis has created a website where residents can sign their names in approval of the relocation.

In Texas, Congressman Tan Parker said that he would “roll out the red carpet” for Musk if he moved the company’s headquarters there. Texas is home to many of Musk’s companies including Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company.

Musk has stated that he does not own a home and frequently stays at friends’ houses.

“This is a guy that has succeeded in almost every enterprise he’s ever done. And so he will, our state will benefit, we will get, I think $15, $20 million profit from our pension fund. But then he will make that company more valuable, I have no doubt about it,” DeSantis said at the news conference.

DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

The post DeSantis Takes Dig at Elon Musk, Discouraging Twitter HQ Transferring to Florida appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.