Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk recently announced that he would be relocating the California-based headquarters for two of his companies, SpaceX and X (formerly known as Twitter), to Texas. Musk cited the Golden State’s progressive legal environment and concerns around urban safety as the catalyst for moving his companies.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, Musk took to X to announce that SpaceX would be moving its headquarters from Hawthorne, California, to the space company’s “Starbase” near Boca Village, Texas. Musk noted that “the final straw” was the implementation of a new law in California that would attack “both families and companies.”
The multi-company CEO was referring to a bill signed on Monday by Governor Newsom that would prohibit the “forced disclosure” rules in the state’s public schools. The bill would outlaw the requirement for teachers to notify parents if their child begins to use different pronouns, change their name, or display other signs of altered gender-based behavior.
Musk said, “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.” He added that families would have to “leave California to protect their children.” Musk also claimed he would move the X headquarters from San Francisco to Austin, Texas.
Predictably, the announcement was not well-received by Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, who took a shot at Musk. Newsom shared an old social media post from former President Donald Trump that was highly disparaging toward the Tesla CEO when they had met to discuss the apparent subsidization of his various “projects.”
“When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it’s electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he’d be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, “drop to your knees and beg,” and he would have done it,” Trump’s post read.
Newsom captioned the screenshot, “You bent the knee.” However, Elon hit back in the comments section, saying, “You never get off your knees.” Notably, Musk specified that he had addressed the legislation surrounding children and gender with Newsom, where he warned him that it would be a hostile move toward California families and companies.
“I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children,” Musk said. However, Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Gavin Newsom, defended the law from criticism in a recent statement. “This law helps keep children safe while protecting the critical role of parents. It protects the child-parent relationship by preventing politicians and school staff from inappropriately intervening in family matters and attempting to control if, when, and how families have deeply personal conversations,” Richards said.
Elon Musk has long been critical of California amid its progressive laws and hostile business environment. The entrepreneur has slowly moved his companies out of the state to alternative locations, such as Texas. Musk even officially changed his residency to Texas in recent years. Watch a video of Musk sounding off on California’s “regulatory gridlock” below:
