Elon Musk Announces X and SpaceX Headquarters Relocation from California to Texas
Elon Musk announced the relocation of his companies in a post on X, citing legislative reasons for the move. The decision follows Governor Newsom’s signing of the SAFETY Act, which prohibits schools from disclosing students’ sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression without consent. This law prompted Musk to state that such policies force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children.
Musk specified that SpaceX’s headquarters will move from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase in Brownsville, Texas. Additionally, X will relocate its headquarters from San Francisco to Austin, Texas. Musk emphasized concerns about safety, mentioning challenges related to crime in California.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
Texas Governor Greg Abbott hailed Musk’s decision to relocate SpaceX to the state, declaring it as solidifying Texas’s leadership in space exploration.
CHIEF CRITIC
In response to Musk’s tweets, Governor Newsom shared an old Truth Social post by Donald Trump criticizing Musk, where Trump said, “I could have said, ‘drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it…” Newsom posted the screenshot and commented, “You bent the knee.”
FORBES VALUATION
Forbes estimates Musk’s net worth at approximately $254.4 billion as of Tuesday afternoon, positioning him as the wealthiest person globally.
KEY BACKGROUND
Musk founded SpaceX in California in 2002, using proceeds from the sale of PayPal. After early challenges, the company secured a pivotal $1.5 billion NASA contract in 2008. SpaceX, valued at around $210 billion, designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. In 2022, Musk acquired X, originally founded in 2006 as Twitter, for $44 billion, subsequently restructuring it to focus on becoming a “super app.”
TANGENT
Tesla, another of Musk’s ventures, moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021. However, Musk later announced that Tesla’s new engineering headquarters would be based in Silicon Valley, despite the corporate headquarters remaining in Texas. The move was aimed at proximity to the Starbase launch site.
