Elon Musk Announces X/Twitter and Space X Headquarters Are Moving To Texas over Dangerous Parent Secrecy Bill

X Owner and Space X CEO Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that both X and Space X are to leave their San Francisco and Hawthorne Headquarters in California respectively. Both companies will be moving to Texas following California Governor Gavin Newsom signing California’s dangerous parent secrecy bill to prohibit schools from notifying parents if their child is “gender confused” or “transitioning” to the opposite sex.

Since 2020, Elon Musk has gradually moved himself and his companies – social media company X, automotive company Tesla, and aerospace company Space X – more and more out of California. While high taxes and a growing number of regulations have always played against Musk’s companies in California, it was during the pandemic that Musk first began threatening that he and his companies would leave the state  over COVID-19 restrictions. In December 2020, Musk announced that he would be moving out of California and to Texas over high taxes and other issues. This was then followed up in October 2021 when Musk moved the headquarters of Tesla from Palo Alto to Austin.

While Tesla’s headquarters was moved, Musk still held a commitment in the state, with Space X remaining in Hawthorne and Tesla having several factories across the Golden State, including a car factory in Fremont. However pullout worries continued, especially after Musk formally bought Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion. Almost immediately, there were rumors that he would be moving the company out of San Francisco. Twitter was also soon rebranded as X, with Musk firing or laying off much of the staff.

In 2023, Musk had an odd year with the state of California, as he had moved his AI division back to Palo Alto from Texas while also hinting again of X moving out of California. However, in 2024, Musk went forward with even more cutting of ties with California. In April, over 3,000 Tesla employees were fired in California, with CalSTRS fighting back last month by voting against Musk’s $50 billion compensation package. Undeterred, X last week announced that they would be leasing their San Francisco HQ building, pointing at an imminent move.

Those fears came true on Tuesday when Musk announced that Space X would be leaving Hawthorne for Starbase, Texas, and X would be moving to Austin. Musk said that the ‘final straw’ for the move came on Monday when Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that bars school districts from informing parents of their gender identification change.

“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,” said Musk on X on Tuesday. “This is the final straw. 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.”

This is the final straw.

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. https://t.co/cpWUDgBWFe

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024

Musk then added “And X HQ will move to Austin. Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building.”

And 𝕏 HQ will move to Austin https://t.co/LUDfLEsztj

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024

Reaction was swift. While many praised the moves, with Musk, like Tesla, planning on keeping a significant number of operations in California from Twitter and SpaceX, others went after him swiftly. Governor Newsom gave a quick reply of a single sentence “You bent the knee,” insinuating that this was Musk’s version of begging.

You bent the knee. pic.twitter.com/5CNAWvZFSv

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 16, 2024

Late on Tuesday, Musk responded with the message “You never get off your knees.”

You never get off your knees

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 17, 2024

Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) also called out Musk, comparing these move to Tesla’s move in 2021 where, despite the HQ moving to Austin, most of the operations stayed in California, similar to Musk’s plans with X and Space X.

“California literally made you with taxpayer subsidies & because it’s the best place around. Will this be a fake temper tantrum move just like Tesla’s fake “move” to Texas?,” said Wiener.

California literally made you with taxpayer subsidies & because it’s the best place around. Will this be a fake temper tantrum move just like Tesla’s fake “move” to Texas? https://t.co/VN8kNFQsvf

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) July 16, 2024

However, tech experts told the Globe on Wednesday that this, or an announcement like it, was expected for some time.

“Musk has been threatening to move for years and just now finally did,” said Anthony Ferry, a San Francisco tech consultant, to the Globe on Wednesday. “For Musk it’s been largely a tax and regulation thing and he was likely already planning a move out. The Monday law signing was likely just a convenient ‘this is what broke me’ excuse. But if you look back on the previous years, it was largely taxes and regulations.”

“Not so much Space X, as Hawthorne and L.A. were actually pretty good to him. It was more like what San Francisco kept doing to X, including petty things like forcing him to remove a sign with the new logo. Space X moving out is likely just a response to the state and the company literally creating a huge complex in Texas where an HQ move would make logistical sense. X moving is a response to a lot more. I mean he even pointed out the San Francisco homeless and crime problems in his tweet.”

“Both companies will still have big presences in California, and like Tesla, Musk may shift some operations back too. But right now, Musk has greener pastures in Texas, at least tax-wise, and can do things there he can’t in California. The tech scene has been leaving Austin for awhile now however, Remember, even Oracle recently left for Nashville. So we’ll see how successful the moves actually are in the long run.”

The Globe also talked with two Space X employees Tuesday night who said “Yeah, we’re not worried about moving out of here. We were, until we learned that, like, only a fraction of the people in Tesla actually moved to Austin. If it is a big move, a lot of people would quit Space X rather than move to Texas for a variety of reasons, and the company knows this. That being said, it is on our minds now.”

Musk has yet to announce move out dates.