Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus of The Daily Wire, announced on Tuesday that the conservative media company will be leaving California and re-locating to Nashville, Tennessee.
Shapiro posted the news to Twitter, saying that they aren’t the first company to abandon California due to its bad politics: “We’re not the first. And we certainly won’t be the last. Terrible governance has consequences.”
“We’re taking all 75 of our jobs, we’re taking our tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, and we are moving all of that outside the state of California,” Shapiro said in a YouTube video, explaining their decision. “And this is specifically, and really only, due to the crappy governance of this state.”
The Daily Wire is a news and opinion media outlet from a conservative perspective founded in 2015 by Ben Shapiro, Jeremy Boreing, and Caleb Robinson. It has gained a fast following in its five years, boasting over 3.85 billion page views and 136,000 subscribers, according to co-CEO Boreing.
“Since inception,” John Lewis told the Blaze, “the Daily Wire has accumulated over 30 million followers, 3 billion video views, and 180 million hours of video watched across all our platforms.”
NewsWhip listed The Daily Wire as a top publisher on Facebook in July, and The Ben Shapiro Show has ranked as one of this year’s top ten podcasts on PodTrac.
The Daily Wire team is citing declining quality of life in California, caused by dismal political policies that have led to rising housing costs and an increase in homelessness, as its reason for finding a new home in Tennessee.
“The dream of California and the weather were enough to draw us all here and keep us here, even when it was hard,” said co-CEO Boreing of the company’s decision to relocate. “But it’s hubris to think you can keep making it worse and worse for people and that somehow the idea of temperate winters will be enough to make them stay forever.”
According to Boreing, Nashville “offers the creative talent we need to keep growing the business.”
The 75 employees of The Daily Wire are being asked to make their decision by October 1st whether or not they will join the company in the move. Boreing reports that 80% of their team has plans to join the relocation.
Meghan McCain humorously responded to Shapiro’s tweet with, “Take me with you!” and a gif of Chris Farley as the angry bus driver from Billy Madison:
Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, celebrated the conservative media company’s abandonment of California. Shapiro retweeted the celebration by offering condolences to California for “being stuck with The Young Turks.”
Caitlin Bassett graduated from Liberty University in 2017 with her Bachelor’s in Politics and Policy. She grew up in the great Pacific Northwest, but now calls Northern California home as she pursues ministry school.
I am so pleased you and yours are moving our way. I do wish you would have come a little further east – Greenville SC would have loved to have had you! Best of luck in Tennessee!
Welcome to the Volunteer State. God Bless you. Have a safe move.