Amazon hunting for 2nd home, cities start lining up to apply

Amazon, bursting out of its Seattle headquarters, is hunting for a second home. Must haves: A prime location, close to transit, with plenty of space to grow.

The company said Thursday it will spend more than $5 billion to build another headquarters in North America to house as many as 50,000 employees. It plans to also stay in its sprawling Seattle headquarters, with the new space "a full equal" to that, said founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

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Brad Badertscher, an accounting professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the public search appeared to be a way to start a bidding war among cities.

"This was like an open letter to city leaders saying, 'Who wants Amazon and all our jobs?'" Badertscher said. "This is Jeff Bezos doing what he does best: adding shareholder value and getting the most bang for the buck."

Read the entire story on the Associated Press website.