Tesla Chief executive Elon Musk has announced that the company will move its headquarters to Texas from California.
Musk made the announcement during Tesla’s annual share holders’ meeting.
Musk has had several clashes with local politicians in Alameda County, California, due to their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also told shareholders that the Fremont factory was “jammed.”
Elon also emphasized that California was hard for his employees to find affordable housing, while the living cost can be lower in Austin, Texas – whether those employees will uproot their lives and move to Austin, however, remains to be seen.
“There’s a limit to how big you can scale it in the Bay Area. In Austin our factory is like five minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from downtown,” says Elon Musk.
In fact, it is not the first time that the billionaire technology entrepreneur talking about the move of the company’s HQ to Texas. The CEO has kept tension with California at times.
In May, after a high profile spat with local politicians in California on the order of keeping Tesla’s Fremont factory closed, Musk tweeted: “Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately.” However, the relocation has not been confirmed until now.
Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
In fact, since last year, Elon Musk has gradually shifted his focus to Texas. He has moved his home to the Southern State from California at the end of last year for Tesla’s new car manufacturing plant there. His SpaceX rocket company also keeps a launch site in Texas.
Attracted by cheaper labour, less stringent regulation, lower living costs and tax rates, Tesla is not the only company moving from California to Texas. In 2020, tech giant Oracle announced its relocation from Silicon Valley to Austin. Technology firm HP and carmaker Toyota have moved their US headquarters to Texas from California, as well.
