Billionaire business magnate Elon Musk has announced a major relocation — from the very liberal California to the highly conservative state of Texas.
The Tesla CEO made the announcement on Tuesday during the Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO Council summit.
Musk said that while there are a “lot of things” that are “really great” about the West Coast state, he felt it prudent to move to Texas.
“If a team has been winning for too long, they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled and then they don’t win the championship anymore,” he said during the summit. “California has been winning for a long time. And I think they’re taking that for granted a little bit.”
In May, Musk tweeted that Tesla — which remains headquartered in California at the time of this reporting — would consider moving its headquarters facilities to Texas and Nevada after state officials refused to permit the company’s Fremont, California, factory to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his Tuesday remarks, Musk said, “First of all, Tesla and SpaceX obviously have massive operations in California. In fact, it’s worth noting that Tesla is the last car company still manufacturing cars in California. SpaceX is the last aerospace company still doing significant manufacturing in California. So. There used to be over a dozen car plants in California. And California used to be the center of aerospace manufacturing! My companies are the last two left. … That’s a very important point to make.”
He added, “For myself, yes, I have moved to Texas.”
“We’ve got [SpaceX’s] Starship development here in South Texas, where I am right now,” he went on. “And then we’ve got big factory developments just outside Austin.”
Musk’s personal move to Texas means that he will increase his chances at avoiding a 13.3 percent state income tax on the capital gains he takes in the event he sells Tesla stock or receives bonuses . Texas has no personal income tax.”