Recently the mega tech firm Tesla declared to shift its company headquarters to Texas from California.
Elon Musk – Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer announced the news at the electric carmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Austin.
The billionaire had fallen out with local politicians in Alameda County, California over its Covid response. And California on the other hand is the location of a key Tesla factory.
He gave many reasons for the shift and told the shareholders that the company’s factory in California was “jammed”.
Also, the country had become a difficult place for his employees in terms of affordable housing – he told the shareholders.
“There’s a limit to how big you can scale it in the Bay Area. In Austin our factory is like five minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from downtown,” he said.
Moreover, Mr Musk has had a restless relationship with California sometimes.
In May, he had a prominent argument with local politicians in California. Because of this, he was ordered to keep Tesla’s Fremont plant closed.
He tweeted: “Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately.” However, there is no confirmation regarding the move until now.
Along with this decision, Mr Musk also added that the firm planned to increase output from its California and Nevada factories by 50%.
“This is not a matter of, sort of, Tesla leaving California,” he said.
Nevertheless, Tesla is not the first company to move to Texas. Oracle, the tech powerhouse also declared it was moving to Austin in 2020.
Technology firm HP and carmaker Toyota have also moved their US headquarters to Texas from California.
California is expensive and has strong labour laws with higher living costs and taxes than other states. Texas on the other hand is known for cheaper labour and less strict rules.
Mr Musk moved his home to Texas from California at the end of last year to focus on Tesla’s new car manufacturing plant there.
