Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,on May 6, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.Apu Gomes/Getty Images
Elon Musk made his intention to move the headquarters of his companies SpaceX and X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, from California to Texas after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a transgender rights law.
In a series of tweets, Musk said that the law, which he claimed was infringing on parents' rights on their children, was the "final straw."
SpaceX's current headquarters is in Hawthorne while X still occupies the old Twitter HQ in San Francisco.
It is understood that SpaceX will move its headquarters from Hawthorne to its facility in Boca Chica, Texas, which produces and launches its next-generation spacecraft called Starship.
As for X, Musk stated that it would upgrade its Austin offices into the company's headquarters.
Two of Musk's companies have since moved from the Golden State to the Lone Star State. Tesla relocated its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin in 2021, followed a year later by the tunnel-digging firm The Boring Company.
Meanwhile, the headquarters of his other businesses would stay embedded in California, particularly xAI and Neuralink in the Bay Area.
WIRED reported that he is yet to provide a timeline for the move but he was clear as to why. Musk has been a long-standing critic of California's legislation, especially for what could be perceived as progressive and liberal policies.
The new law signed by Newsom, a Democrat, barred schools from requiring staff to disclose a student's gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation without the student's permission. It also overrides policies passed by local school boards requiring educators to tell parents if their children were suspected of being transgender.
Musk said in his series of tweets Tuesday (July 16) that he made a clear statement of concern to Newsom about laws similar to the one recently signed, stressing that it would "force families and companies" to leave California in a bid to protect their children from what he perceived as attacks on the family.
It could be speculated that the tech boss's concern was personal after one of his 12 children, Xavier Alexander Musk, changed both name and gender into Vivian Jenna Wilson in 2022 to not be associated with her biological father. A Musk biography written by Walter Isaacson also revealed that the tech billionaire blamed the school Wilson attended for allegedly exposing her to certain ideals that influenced her to transition and cut ties with the Musk family.
On the other hand, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, welcomed Musk's decision to move the headquarters of SpaceX and X from California to his state.
BREAKING
.@elonmusk announces the move of SpaceX headquarters to the great state of Texas.
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