Elon Musk to Move Both X and SpaceX From California to Texas

reprints


Elon Musk is officially over the Golden State. 

The owner of SpaceX and X (formerly known as Twitter) said on the social media platform that he will move the headquarters of both companies to Texas due to his criticisms of California’s political ecosystem.

SEE ALSO: JLL’s Justin Bedecarre and Felipe Gomez-Kraus On What AI Tenants Want

As the reason for the SpaceX move, Musk cited in his initial post a new state law that bans the requirement of schools to inform parents of a student’s gender identity changes. The company’s roughly 1 million-square-foot headquarters is currently based in Hawthorne, in Los Angeles’ South Bay. 

“This is the final straw,” Musk posted. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”

The tech billionaire, currently the world’s richest man, later said that he would move the headquarters of X as well, from San Francisco to Austin, Texas. 

“Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building,” Musk posted in regard to why he wanted to move the platform out of San Francisco. Musk infamously purchased the social media conglomerate for $44 billion in 2022. 

Indeed, the company recently put its nearly 800,000 square feet of its San Francisco headquarters, across two buildings Ninth and Market streets, up for sublease, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which reported the news last week. 

A representative for SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t the first time Musk has moved one of his companies from California to Texas.

The billionaire moved electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla from Palo Alto, in the San Francisco Bay Area, to Austin in 2021, in the wake of California’s COVID-19 restrictions. Musk has also since moved his personal residence to Texas. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.