Tesla Inc. is moving its corporate headquarters to Austin, Texas, where a new factory for the Model Y and forthcoming Cybertruck is nearing completion, relocating from California after making the Golden State its home for 18 years.
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk announced the move at the Austin plant Thursday during the electric-vehicle maker’s shareholder meeting.
Tesla has been based in Palo Alto, California, the leafy Silicon Valley suburb that’s home to Stanford University and several venture capital firms, since its founding in 2003. But the company has grown from scrappy startup to the world’s most valuable automaker and Texas -- centrally located between the two coasts -- has become its center of gravity in the U.S.
Musk’s decision to move the headquarters to Texas comes despite growing discomfort among some companies with the state’s policies, such as a recent abortion law -- that’s been temporarily blocked -- and efforts to restrict voter rights.
But Tesla is just the latest California company to move to Texas, which has lower taxes, a lower cost of living and fewer business regulations. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. has shifted its base to Houston and Charles Schwab Corp. moved its headquarters to the Dallas area from San Francisco.
“We welcome Tesla home!" Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in an email. “It’s a tech company that creates the clean manufacturing, middle skill jobs Austin needs."
The carmaker joins a number of other tech companies with operations in Austin. Dell Technologies was founded in the city, and Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. have a large presence. Oracle Corp. said last year it was moving its headquarters to Austin from Silicon Valley, one of several transplants to the Texas state capital during the pandemic.
“This is the newest economic development trophy on Governor Abbott’s wall," John Boyd, a corporate relocation consultant based in Princeton, New Jersey, said by phone on Thursday. T
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