For the same reason my company used to, I'm retired, sponsor the local little league sports teams - even though the audiences were absolutely never going to be clients?
Sometimes, you do the right thing, just because it's the right thing to do. It wasn't an investment. It was just giving back to the community that housed us.
I guess you could argue that it improved employee morale? I don't think any of our employees even had kids on the team.
I'm not denying that companies do charitable things, but I think where to build your headquarters is much more fundamental than whether to give money to a kids' sports team. Would your former company have made decisions about the parameters of their core business based on the interests of Little League?
I'm not convinced that their office location is a core business decision. Wherever they go, people will also go. They could HQ in Mozambique and still attract top talent.
I'm sure Amazon would be happy to sponsor a little league team. Sponsoring a city in the same way is to then be responsible for people who don't even work for you. It's much better for Amazon to stake its flag in a city that is self reliant, but also fertile for new blood.
Microsoft and Boeing anchor Seattle next to Amazon, that makes Seattle a very stable and fertile place. If Amazon moved to, say, St. Louis? What else is there to balance it out? Budweiser?
Sometimes, you do the right thing, just because it's the right thing to do. It wasn't an investment. It was just giving back to the community that housed us.
I guess you could argue that it improved employee morale? I don't think any of our employees even had kids on the team.