The analyst who predicted Amazon would buy Whole Foods says only 2 cities have a shot at HQ2 (AMZN)

Scott Galloway HQ2

Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at New York University's business school, has laid out his predictions for where Amazon will put its new headquarters, HQ2.
Last year, Galloway accurately predicted Amazon would buy Whole Foods, lending his newest prediction some clout.
He narrows HQ2's location down to five regions on Amazon's 20-location shortlist. They're all in either the New York metro area or the Washington, DC, metro area.

Amazon will soon choose the location for its second headquarters.

Who will get the $5 billion investment and 50,000 jobs — along with any of the potential downsides?

"It all comes down to two locations: It's either going to be the metro area of New York or the metro area of DC," Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at New York University's business school, says in a new YouTube video.

Galloway has previously made an accurate prediction about Amazon. In May, he made the call that the e-commerce giant would buy Whole Foods, which it did in June.

Galloway doesn't get more specific in his HQ2 prediction, which technically encompasses five of Amazon's shortlisted locations: New York City; Newark, New Jersey; Washington, DC; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Northern Virginia.

Why those two regions? Galloway says there are only two items to consider.

The first is where Amazon can attract the best talent.

"In the eyes of Amazon, the best talent is a 24-year-old [electrical engineering] grad from MIT," he said. "This individual isn't concerned with cost of living — cost of living only matters when you're in your 30s and you begin collecting dogs and kids."

The second, Galloway says, is where Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants to spend his time. Galloway points out that Bezos already owns homes in New York and DC.

Galloway implores Bezos to pick the city now instead of letting the HQ2 bidding process go on any longer. He also calls on mayors and civic leaders to band together and refuse to offer the company financial incentives to locate in their city.

"Mr. Bezos, come to the light," Galloway says.