News Leaks About Amazon HQ Pick, and an Exec Is Not Happy

The Washington Post thinks it might have figured out where Amazon will locate its second headquarters: Crystal City, Virginia. The locale is in the DC metro area, and the newspaper reports that Amazon and local officials are in "advanced discussions" about the company setting up shop there with an anticipated 50,000 jobs. After the report surfaced, CNBC confirmed that the two sides had a "very productive" and long conference call on Friday. Among other things, Crystal City was reportedly coming up with ways to ease Amazon's concern about DC traffic. But CNBC adds that Austin, Texas, appears to be a finalist as well.

The Post adds plenty of caveats to its story about Crystal City, noting that Amazon might very well be holding similar discussions with other cities on a short list. In addition to Austin, cities previously mentioned include Chicago, New York City, and Newark, New Jersey. But the apparent scoop clearly caught the attention of Amazon, as evidenced by a not-so diplomatic tweet issued by an exec. "Memo to the genius leaking info about Crystal City, VA as #HQ2 selection," wrote Mike Grella, Amazon's director of economic development. "You’re not doing Crystal City, VA any favors. And stop treating the NDA you signed like a used napkin." (An Amazon warehouse in Baltimore just had deadly trouble.)