The recent news that Oracle, the second largest software maker in the world, plans to move its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin has resurrected familiar headlines suggesting that California is finally going to pay for its so-called hostility to business.

Coming on the heels of the recent announcement by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, another Silicon Valley marquee company, to move its headquarters to Texas, along with Tesla founder Elon Musk’s exodus to the Lone Star State, Oracle’s decision has shaken some Bay Area business leaders.

“You know, it’s very troubling news because it’s not unexpected,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a business and civic leadership group. “We’ve been hearing from a lot of companies, from individuals who are talking about this, and it’s been on the agenda for a while now, even pre-pandemic. But I think the pandemic really expedited a lot of organizations thinking about their future strategy and remote work. And the wildfires didn’t help.”

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