News Press

CEOs Push NYC for Amazon’s HQ2

October 16, 2017

Dear Jeff and Amazon Team:

New York is the premier headquarters city for global companies. It is where traditional and new economies are converging, most dramatically in the retail and advertising industries.  It is the clear choice for Amazon’s second headquarters.

Amazon has already recognized the New York advantage with your decisions to locate several important business operations here. Establishing HQ2 in the city would complete Amazon’s transition from West Coast disruptor to mainstream leader in direct-to-consumer commerce.

New York Metro is the world’s largest and most diverse regional economy. It has the country’s biggest concentration of discerning and demanding customers and clients. It offers co-location with companies that are industry leaders in financial and professional services, media and entertainment, fashion and retail, health and life sciences, education, design and development. It features unparalleled diversity of industry talent and institutional resources, all of which would enhance Amazon’s prodigious strengths and generate new opportunities to learn, grow, and partner.

New York City and its surrounding communities represent a rapidly evolving ecosystem, with a broad spectrum of life style choices and prices, an excellent and affordable public transportation system, and an amazing array of cultural and recreational amenities.

New York will challenge your company and its people to be more productive, outward looking and forward thinking than ever.

A few facts about what makes New York best-suited for HQ2:

  • 5.8 million residents with a bachelor’s degree or better in the metropolitan region —80% more than Los Angeles, 5 times more than Seattle, 7 times more than Denver and 3.5 times more than Boston
  • 100 great universities that awarded 18,000+ post-secondary STEM degrees in 2016
  • 2.3 million residents with graduate or professional degrees —more than the combined populations of Boston, Denver and Atlanta
  • R&D spending by major academic institutions of $2.9 billion in 2016, complemented by over $1.6 billion in NIH grants
  • 45% of New York’s workforce is foreign born, reflecting the city’s attraction to top global talent
  • 47 Fortune 500 headquarters across multiple industries —more than any other city
  • The largest and most comprehensive air transport system in the U.S., serving over 350,000 passengers a day
  • 97% of the city’s population lives within a quarter mile of public transit and 82% live within a 10-minute walk from a park

In New York, you will find a community of super-achievers who hail from every country in the world. That is the reason we are here and it is what makes this the logical place for Amazon’s HQ2. We hope you agree.

Sincerely,

Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital
Candace K. Beinecke, Senior Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
William H. Berkman, Managing Partner, Associated Partners, LP
Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P.
Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.
Martin S. Burger, Chief Executive Officer, Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Patrick J. Burke, President & CEO, HSBC Bank USA
Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express Company
Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Michael L. Corbat, Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup Inc.
Kenneth D. Daly, President, National Grid New York
Barry Diller, Chairman & Senior Executive, Expedia, Inc. and Chairman & Senior Executive, IAC
William R. Dougherty, Chairman, Executive Committee, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc.
Blair W. Effron, Co-Founder, Centerview Partners LLC
Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Partner and Co-Founder, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.
Joseph R. Ficalora, President & CEO, New York Community Bancorp, Inc.
Winston C. Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers
Alan H. Fishman, Chairman, Ladder Capital Finance LLC
Blair Fleming, Managing Director & Head, U.S. Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets, LLC
William E. Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic LLC
Paul Fribourg, Chairman & CEO, Continental Grain Company
Eric J. Friedman, Executive Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Mark T. Gallogly, Co-Founder and Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
MaryAnne Gilmartin, President & CEO, Forest City New York
James P. Gorman, Chairman & CEO, Morgan Stanley
Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark Knight Frank
James H. Herbert, II, Chairman & CEO (Founding), First Republic Bank
Marc Holliday, President & CEO, SL Green Realty Corp.
Stephen R. Howe, U.S. Chairman & Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard Ltd
Harry Kargman, Founder & CEO, Kargo
Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Jeremy M. Kroll, CEO & Co-Founder, K2 Intelligence
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.
Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Daniel Lubetzky, Founder & CEO, KIND Healthy Snacks
Anthony E. Mann, President & CEO, E-J Electric Installation Co.
Donald B. Marron, Chairman, Lightyear Capital
John McAvoy, Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison, Inc.
Avner Mendelson, President & CEO, Bank Leumi USA
Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO, Moelis & Company
Greg Mondre, Managing Partner & Managing Director, Silver Lake
Deanna M. Mulligan, President & CEO, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
JJ Ofer, Chief Executive Officer, Global Holdings Management Group (US) Inc.
Jon Oringer, Founder & CEO, Shutterstock, Inc.
John Paulson, President, Paulson & Co., Inc.
Michael A. Peterson, Chief Executive Officer, Peterson Management, LLC
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Infor
Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York
Daniel L. Rashin, Co-President and CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc.
Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty LLC
James D. Robinson, III, Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures
John Romeo, Managing Partner, Americas, Oliver Wyman
Michael I. Roth, Chairman & CEO, Interpublic Group
Kevin P. Ryan, Chairman & Founder, MongoDB, Zola, Workframe, Nomad Health
Alexander Saint-Amand, Chief Executive Officer, GLG
Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr., President & CEO, Condé Nast
Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman & CEO, The Travelers Companies, Inc.
Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, Blackstone
Tarek Sherif, Chairman & CEO, Medidata Solutions, Inc.
Tad Smith, President & CEO, Sotheby’s
Jerry I. Speyer, Chairman, Tishman Speyer
Robert K. Steel, Chief Executive Officer, Perella Weinberg Partners LP
Michael Steib, President & CEO, XO Group Inc.
Arthur P. Steinmetz, Chairman & CEO, OppenheimerFunds, Inc.
Steven R. Swartz, President & CEO, Hearst
Paul Taubman, Chairman & CEO, PJT Partners, LP
Owen D. Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Properties
Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc.
Daniel R. Tishman, Vice Chairman, AECOM & Principal, Tishman Realty
George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, EisnerAmper LLP
Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City
Brett Yormark, Chief Executive Officer, Barclays Center &, Brooklyn Nets
Strauss Zelnick, Partner, ZMC