Facebook made it official today: It&'s relocating its headquarters from Palo Alto to neighboring Silicon Valley town Menlo Park. And while the company only moved into its two Palo Alto locations in 2009 and 2010, it sounds like it plans to stay in Menlo Park for a while.
Chief financial officer David Ebersman said that when Facebook outgrew its downtown Palo Alto location in 2009, it started looking for a campus where it could &''plant some roots&'' (implying that the current Palo Alto offices were always seen as temporary). The deal seems to support that idea &8212' it&'s a 15-year lease, with the option to purchase the property.
&''We&'re in this for the long-term,&'' Ebersman said.
And yes, the location in question is the old Sun Microsystems campus that everyone has been speculating about, as well as an adjoining property. The existing buildings can officially accommodate 3,700 people, and it sounds like Facebook can grow beyond that number by building new offices on the campus. (Facebook had about 2,000 employees at the end of 2010, Ebersman said.)
The move will probably begin in June or July, Facebook executives said. As for the Palo Alto offices, the company has a lease until the end of 2013. The current plan is to move the company&'s entire Bay Area staff (which is about two-thirds of its total workforce) to Menlo Park, but Ebersman emphasized that these plans could change.
We previously wondered how Facebook&'s startup-y culture might adapt to a more staid headquarters, as well as the inevitable changes that come with growth. Ebersman addressed that today by saying that the most important part of Facebook&'s culture is bringing together &''young people&'' who want to work on cool products. Hence the current &''open&'' office layout without offices or cubicles. The new campus extends that idea, Ebersman said, by bringing (most of) the company together in one location.
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Companies: Facebook
People: David Ebersman
Companies: Facebook
People: David Ebersman
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
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