Elon Musk Says X, SpaceX Headquarters Will Relocate To Texas From California

Elon Musk said on July 16, said that he would move the headquarters of two of his businesses, the social media platform X and the rocket manufacturer SpaceX, to Texas, escalating an increasingly contentious fight with California.

California law “the final straw”

Mr. Musk blamed a California law, signed on July 13, by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, that bars school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents if their children change their gender identification. Mr. Musk called the law “the final straw” and said he had warned Mr. Newsom that such legislation would “force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”

Headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Texas

Mr. Musk said SpaceX would move its headquarters from Hawthorne, Calif., to its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. X, which is based in San Francisco, will move to Austin. SpaceX, X and Mr. Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mr. Newsom’s office responded by pointing on July 16 post on X in which he implied that Mr. Musk was pandering to Donald J. Trump. Mr. Musk endorsed the former president on Saturday.

Love-hate relationship with California

Mr. Musk has long had a love-hate relationship with California, chafing at what he says is overzealous government intervention in the state. He previously moved the headquarters of his electric car company, Tesla, from Palo Alto, California to Austin in the wake of the Bay Area’s coronavirus lockdowns in 2020. Mr. Musk called restrictions that made Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., shut down “fascist.”

Criticism of the state

He has also criticized the state for being slow to innovate and delaying civil improvement projects by overregulating. And he has said crime and drug use in San Francisco has made it difficult for him to come and go unencumbered from X’s office. He has sparred with local politicians and said the city has fallen into a “doom loop.” But he has been hesitant to abandon California entirely, continuing to tap Silicon Valley and its technical talent for his artificial intelligence and engineering efforts.

No state income tax or capital gains tax

Texas has no state income tax or capital gains tax, making it an attractive home for high earners like Mr. Musk and some of his employees. The governor’s office there did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Still, moving the headquarters will have limited impact on the underlying financials of Mr. Musk’s companies, said Eric Talley, a corporate law and governance professor at Columbia Law School.