Musk slams California laws, shifting SpaceX and X HQs to Texas

CALIFORNIA:Elon Musk said on Tuesday he is moving the headquarters of two more of his companies – social media platform X and rocket company SpaceX – to Texas from California, citing a new gender-identity law there as the “last straw”

With these moves, the billionaire, who last week backed Republican Donald Trump for president, would have transferred Tesla and the majority of the firms he owns or leads to Texas.

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In 2021, the world’s richest man relocated from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax on people.

Musk cited a new California legislation that prohibits school districts from asking teachers to tell parents when a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation changes as a driving force behind the statement.

“Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies,” Musk, who has a transgender daughter, said in justifying his decision to buy X – previously Twitter – in 2022.

In recent years, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has grown more vocal about politics, frequently criticising the Biden administration and Democrats’ stances on matters like as transgender rights and immigration.

California residents have always supported Democratic politicians, but Texas is considered a dependable Republican bastion.

Musk stated that SpaceX’s main office will relocate to an existing building in Boca Chica, Texas, with X moving to Austin. However, it remained unknown how many jobs or facilities would be relocated from California to Texas.

SpaceX has a vast headquarters outside Los Angeles, a major aerospace hub, where hundreds of personnel work on the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon crew capsules, and several Starshield satellites.

Musk transferred Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas in 2021, although he stated last year that California will continue to be its engineering hub.

He moved SpaceX’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas earlier this year. This followed a Delaware judge’s decision to overturn Musk’s $56 billion pay package at Tesla.