Musk will move X and SpaceX headquarters from California to Texas

ANDlon Musk said he will move the headquarters of X and SpaceX to Texas, a likely symbolic move that adds more fuel to the billionaire’s efforts to align with the political right and distance himself from left-leaning California.

Musk made the announcements on his social media site X on Tuesday, citing frustration with a new law in California related to transgender children in public schools. California has become the first state in the USA prohibit school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents of changes in a student’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

“This is the last straw,” Musk said in the post announcing the SpaceX relocation.

The move is the latest development in Musk’s shift toward the political right. Last week, Musk offered his full support to former President Donald Trump in the upcoming US elections and will also donate tens of millions of dollars to Trump’s campaign every month. He has long been critical of California’s liberal politics and has threatened to remove X and his other businesses from the state on several occasions.

SpaceX’s headquarters are currently in Hawthorne, California, but the company has been building a large facility in South Texas called Starbase in recent years. The Boca Chica site is the main location where SpaceX builds and launches its massive Starship rocket system, and the company recently added a massive warehouse at Starbase known as the Starfactory, which replaced many of the site’s production tents.

X’s headquarters are currently in San Francisco, although the company leased several floors of its main building last week. It was still expected to retain some of that space for employees. In January, X said he was planning open a small office in Austin to help deal with content moderation issues.

SpaceX has approximately 13,000 employees. Its Hawthorne facility has been the primary production and processing site for the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, as well as the larger, more powerful Falcon Heavy rocket.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in an X post that the move “cements Texas as a leader in space exploration.”

California’s new law could be personal for Musk. One of his oldest children went to court the day after turning 18 in 2022 and changed his name, citing “gender identity and the fact that I no longer live or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape, or form.” . ,” according to court documents.

Musk also already has several ties to Texas. His electric car company, Tesla Inc., earlier this year moved its business incorporation from Delaware to Texas, and similarly moved its headquarters from California to Austin in 2021 amid frustration over pandemic lockdowns.

But Tesla still has a sizable presence in the Golden State, with engineering headquarters in Palo Alto.

Musk also moved his personal residence to Texas several years ago.