Another idea for Amazon's HQ2

Amazon has announced plans for an 'HQ2' a second head-quarters office. They have garnered attention in the press by asking cities to recommend locations (and provide benefits). The focus has been on which city will "win" the office ("winning" may be more expensive than cities realize) and on the criteria for Amazon's selection.

The question that no one has asked is: Why does Amazon want a second head-quarters?

Amazon projects growth over the next decade, and it will need employees in various capacities. But that does not require a second head-quarters. Amazon could easily expand with a number of smaller buildings, spread across the country. They could do it rather cheaply too, as there are a large number of available buildings in multiple cities. (Although the buildings may be in cities that are not where Amazon wants to locate its offices.)

Amazon also has the option to expand its workforce by using remote workers, letting employees work from home.

Why does Amazon want a single large building with so many employees? Why not simply buy (or lease) smaller buildings?

Maybe, just maybe, Amazon has another idea.

It is possible that Amazon is preparing to split into two companies. This would make some sense: Amazon has seen a lot of growth, and managing two smaller companies (with a holding company atop both) may have advantages.

The most likely split would be into one company for online and retail sales, and a second for its web and cloud services. These are two different operations, with different markets and different needs. Both operations are profitable, and Amazon does not need to subsidize one from the other.

Dividing into two companies gives some sense to a second head-quarters office. Once filled, Amazon could easily split into two companies, each with its own head-quarters. That could be Amazon's strategy.

I could, of course, be quite wrong about this. I have no relationship with Amazon, except as an occasional customer, so I have no privileged information.

But if they do split, I expect the effect on the market to be minimal. The two sides (retail and web services) are fairly independent.