Elon Musk moves SpaceX and X headquarters to Texas, cites new California law that ‘attacks families”

Texas: Taking to his X handle, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that he is moving the headquarters of both SpaceX and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to Texas, citing several criticisms he has of California and doing business in San Francisco, Los Angeles Times reported.

Pointing to a new state law that bans teachers from telling families about student gender identity changes, Musk tweeted that he is moving the headquarters of SpaceX from Hawthorne to the company’s launch test site in Texas, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Billionaire Elon Musk says he's moving the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X to Texas from California.https://t.co/9nGcqP2dLm

— The Hindu (@the_hindu) July 17, 2024

The move would be a blow to Southern California, where SpaceX has helped to anchor a burgeoning space economy, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“This is the final straw,” posted Musk shortly after noon. “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.”

Elon Musk says he's moving SpaceX and X headquarters from California to Texas https://t.co/67doTGRJzY

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 17, 2024

The law the SpaceX founder cited was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday after a contentious battle between conservative school boards concerned about parental rights and LGBTQ+ activists worried about vulnerable youths.

Shortly after his post about moving SpaceX, Musk posted that he would also move X, formerly known as Twitter, from San Francisco to Austin, saying that he has “had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building.”

20 satellites fall from sky after catastrophic SpaceX rocket failure, triggering investigation https://t.co/hG8VtH2cXu

— Lynne Irwin (@LLynneIrwin) July 17, 2024

The announcement is the latest salvo in Musk’s long-running feud with California and comes nearly three years after he announced the move of Tesla’s headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto, citing the high cost of housing and long commutes for employees. The electric vehicle company maintains a manufacturing operation in Fremont.

The fourth flight of Starship brought us closer to a rapidly reusable future pic.twitter.com/maSky0Rsjy

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 4, 2024

It comes amid the highly charged presidential campaign during which the libertarian Musk has increasingly moved to the right. Musk was one of the first entrepreneurs to openly endorse Donald Trump as President ahead of the elections.
Musk also drew a comment from the other side of the political spectrum, with Democratic State Senior Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, posting that Musk hugely benefitted from California subsidies. “Will this be a fake temper tantrum move just like Tesla’s fake “move” to Texas?”

Weiner added: “I’m not confident that whatever he’s going to do has anything to do with a law that we passed to protect the safety of trans kids,” he said. “He has a history of saying one thing and it not being true.”