CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Stock trading app Robinhood will bring close to 400 jobs and invest $11.7 million in a new customer support and account operations center it will open in Charlotte, city and state officials said Tuesday
It’s the latest and among the most-high profile financial technology companies to move to the region.
Robinhood made national headlines and has been embroiled in controversy over restrictions it placed on buying shares of some companies during a GameStop trading frenzy.
The company will receive up to $3.7 million in incentives from the city and state, although the bulk of the funds are from the state.
Robinhood jobs in Charlotte include analysts, customer service staff and operations personnel, according to a release from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.
The average salary for the positions is just over $76,000, state officials said in a meeting of the Economic Investment Committee. And they said Charlotte competed with places like Denver, Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Tempe, Arizona, for the expansion.
The deal with a Silicon Valley company comes several years after Charlotte’s bid for Amazon’s second headquarters was rejected, largely due to what Amazon told local officials was a lack of tech talent. Since then, Microsoft, online mortgage lender Better.com and other tech firms have expanded in the area.
“Charlotte is known for its talented and diverse workforce, making it an easy choice as we looked to expand our operations,” Alex Mesa, head of customer experience at Robinhood, said in a news release.
Officials did not disclose the location of Robinhood’s new office. Chantal De Soto, a Robinhood spokesperson, said in an email that the company was still choosing the site, but that both its temporary and permanent office locations will be located in the central business district.
She said the firm expects to have at least 150 employees in the area by the end of the year, and will have space for 250 with the possibility to expand.
County records show there’s a permit for the office tower underway at 650 South Tryon Street titled “Robinhood - Office Upfit.”
Local media reports emerged last week about Robinhood’s search for real estate, and the Observer confirmed in the first public interview from an official directly involved with the deal that the announcement was planned for Tuesday.
“We intentionally want to plant that tech town flag,” Fran West, Charlotte’s assistant economic development director said in an interview. “I think what this does is it continues to show that the talent is here.”
Robinhood, which is planning an IPO, pioneered the concept of commission-free trading, forcing other brokers to follow suit in order to compete.
But the company also has been at the center of controversy surrounding restrictions on trading that it enacted amid the GameStop frenzy.
Traders using websites like Reddit to share tips fueled a surge in January in the price of shares of video game retailer GameStop early this year.
Many hedge funds had bet the price of GameStop shares would go down, a practice known as short selling. The rapid rise in the price for GameStop shares lost those funds large sums of money, and they were forced to buy back shares due to their losses.
In the midst of the mania, Robinhood and other brokers limited the buying of shares of GameStop. That move drew sharp rebukes from members of Congress and others.
Trade clearinghouses, intermediaries between buyers and sellers, have deposit requirements for Robinhood and other brokers. Robinhood has said it restricted trading because those deposit requirements became higher than it expected.
Robinhood has continued to come under fire, and CEO Vlad Tenev apologized during a Congressional hearing in February. The company has also been hit with dozens of lawsuits.
West said she was not deterred by Robinhood’s scandals. Incentives provided by both the city and state are given out over time, and only if companies meet certain hiring requirements.
“I didn’t see that as a detractor for quality jobs for the residents of Charlotte,” she said.
