FILE – Elon Musk appears at an event in London on Nov. 2, 2023. Musk posted on social media company X on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, that he plans to move SpaceX from Hawthorne, Calif., to Starbase, Texas. X will move from San Francisco to Austin. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk has announced plans to move the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X from California to Texas.

Musk posted on X on Tuesday that he plans to move SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to the company's rocket launch site, called Starbase, in Texas. X will move from San Francisco to Austin.

He called a new law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday that prohibits school districts from requiring their staff to inform parents of their child's change of gender identity “the last straw.”

“I made it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws like this would force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children,” Musk wrote.

Tesla, where Musk is CEO, moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021.

Musk also stated that he changed his residence from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax.

SpaceX builds and launches its giant Starship rockets at the southern tip of Texas at Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border, at a site called Starbase. The company's smaller Falcon 9 rockets launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Southern California.

It is located just below South Padre Island and about 20 miles from Brownsville.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Billionaire Elon Musk says he will move the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X from California to Texas.

Musk posted on X on Tuesday that he plans to move SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas. X will move from San Francisco to Austin.

He called a new law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday that prohibits school districts from requiring their staff to inform parents of their child's change of gender identity “the last straw.”

“I made it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws like this would force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children,” Musk wrote.

Tesla, where Musk is CEO, moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021.

Musk also stated that he changed his residence from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Top line

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Tuesday that the aerospace company, along with X (formerly Twitter), will move its headquarters from California to Texas after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law preventing schools from requiring their employees to notify parents if students wish to use different pronouns – which Musk said was the “final straw that broke the camel's back.”

The exterior of SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, on July 22, 2018.

AFP via Getty Images

Key data

Musk announced the company's move in a post on X, saying the reason for the move was “this and the many other laws before it that attack both families and businesses.”

Newsom signed the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today's Youth Act (Safety Act) on Monday, which prevents a school employee from “requiring disclosure of information related to the student's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression to another person without the student's consent.”

With this law, California becomes the first state in the U.S. to ban a policy that forces schools to out students by requiring them to notify parents if a student wants to use a different name or pronoun than the one on their birth certificate, The Mercury News reported.

In a follow-up tweet, Musk said he made it clear to Newsom “about a year ago that laws like this would force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children.”

Musk said the headquarters will move from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, a SpaceX complex and launch site near Brownsville, Texas.

X will move its headquarters from San Francisco to Austin, Musk added, saying, “I'm tired of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building.”

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Key quote

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a post about X that Musk's decision to move SpaceX to the state “solidifies Texas' position as a leader in space exploration.”

Main critics

Newsom responded to Musk's tweets on Tuesday night with a screenshot of an old Truth Social post by Donald Trump in which the former president criticized Musk, saying, “I could have said, 'Get on your knees and beg,' and he would have done it…” Newsom posted the screenshot and said, “You got on your knees.”

Forbes Rating

Forbes estimates that Musk had a net worth of around $254.4 billion as of Tuesday afternoon, making him the richest person in the world.

Important background

Musk's SpaceX, founded in 2002, has long been headquartered in California. Musk started the company with money he made from selling PayPal, but it struggled before winning a $1.5 billion contract from NASA in 2008, Business Insider reported. The private aerospace company designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft and was recently valued at around $210 billion in a planned sale of shares on the secondary market. Musk bought X, founded in California in 2006 as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022 after uncertainty about whether the sale would go ahead. After buying it, Musk fired the CEO and much of the staff and set about making it more of a “super app” that could offer users a wide range of products and services on one platform.

tangent

Tesla, another Musk company, moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021 — although Musk announced two years later that its new engineering headquarters would be in Silicon Valley. Musk moved the electric car maker's headquarters from Silicon Valley to Texas to bring it closer to the Starbase launch site. As of 4:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Musk had not yet tweeted that Tesla's engineering headquarters would be moving.

Further information

The Mercury NewsGovernor Newsom signs first-in-the-nation law banning transgender notification policies in schoolsForbesElon Musk

The post X And SpaceX Transferring Headquarters From California To Texas, Musk Says appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Elon Musk, CEO and owner of SpaceX, said Tuesday he will move the headquarters of both companies from California to Texas.

Musk announced these measures in response to California Governor Gavin Newsom signing a new law that prohibits school districts in California from requiring parents to provide notification of a child's change in gender identification.

Read more

“This is the last straw. Because of this law and many other laws before it that attacked both families and businesses, SpaceX will now be moving its headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Starbase, Texas,” Musk posted on X. He later added that the X headquarters would also be moved from San Francisco to Austin.

The “X” sign on the headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter in San Francisco on July 28, 2023.Noah Berger / AP File

“I made it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws like this would force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children,” he added.

In 2022, People magazine reported, Elon Musk's then 18-year-old daughter received permission to officially change her name and gender. She dropped the surname Musk and instead adopted her mother's maiden name, Justine Wilson.

When asked about his estranged transgender daughter in October 2022, Musk told the Financial Times, “You can't win them all,” and claimed to have a good relationship with all of his other children.

Recommended

In 2021, Musk, also CEO of Tesla, moved his automaker's headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for further information.

This story first appeared on CNBC.com

The post Elon Musk says SpaceX and X headquarters transferring to Texas, blames new California transgender legislation appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk has announced plans to move the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X from California to Texas.

Musk posted on X on Tuesday that he plans to move SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to the company's rocket launch site, called Starbase, in Texas. X will move from San Francisco to Austin.

He described a new law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday as Bars School Districts of the obligation of staff to inform parents about the change in their child’s gender identity, the “last straw that breaks the camel’s back”.

“I made it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws like this would force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children,” Musk wrote.

Tesla, where Musk is CEO, relocated its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021.

Musk also stated that he changed his residence from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax.

SpaceX builds and launches its giant Starship rockets at the southern tip of Texas at Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border, at a site called Starbase. The company's smaller Falcon 9 rockets launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Southern California.

It is located just below South Padre Island and about 20 miles from Brownsville.

The post Elon Musk says he is shifting SpaceX, X headquarters to Texas appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Billionaire Elon Musk says he is moving the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X from California to Texas

July 16, 2024, 3:51 p.m. ET

• 2 minutes reading time

SAN FRANCISCO – Billionaire Elon Musk has announced plans to move the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X from California to Texas.

Musk posted on X on Tuesday that he plans to move SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to the company's rocket launch site, called Starbase, in Texas. X will move from San Francisco to Austin.

He called a new law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday that prohibits school districts from requiring their staff to inform parents of their child's change of gender identity “the last straw.”

“I made it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws like this would force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children,” Musk wrote.

Tesla, where Musk is CEO, moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021.

Musk also stated that he changed his residence from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax.

SpaceX builds and launches its giant Starship rockets at the southern tip of Texas at Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border, at a site called Starbase. The company's smaller Falcon 9 rockets launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Southern California.

It is located just below South Padre Island and about 20 miles from Brownsville.

The post Elon Musk says he is shifting SpaceX, X headquarters from California to Texas appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

As the San Francisco Examiner first reported, Philz Coffee has closed its headquarters in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood and moved to Oakland.

Both the headquarters and the café of the popular coffeehouse chain at 1258 Minnesota Street had to close as a result.

“With nearly our entire corporate team working entirely from home, the existing lease no longer met our needs as a company,” said Mahesh Sadarangani, CEO of Philz Coffee, in a statement provided to SFGATE. “As a result, we have decided to close the Dogpatch location and relocate our corporate headquarters to our roastery in Oakland, California.”

Qualified retail employees were offered jobs at other nearby Philz stores, Sadarangani's statement said. In October, Philz closed its original San Francisco cafe at the corner of 24th and Folsom after 20 years.

According to Mission Local, the company initially told employees that the 24th Street closure was because the company did not want to renew its lease. However, the building is owned by an LLC run by Philz co-founder Jacob Jaber, Mission Local reported. Employees told Mission Local they suspected other reasons for the closure, from high maintenance costs to the main store's reputation as a “rebellious store,” with employees having previously attempted to unionize, according to Mission Local.

The company still has about a dozen cafes across the city, from Embarcadero to Noe Valley to Ocean Avenue.

“We are thrilled to welcome Philz to its permanent home here in the city,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said on X after news of the coffee chain's move broke. “It's not just about coffee; it's about community, and we're honored that a huge local favorite has chosen Oakland as its home.”

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Oracle CEO Larry Ellison announced earlier this week that he was moving Oracle from Austin to Nashville, Tennessee, despite moving from California in the first place in 2020.

The software giant was originally headquartered in Santa Clara after its founding in 1977 and moved to Redwood Shores in 1989. Oracle grew into a giant with its headquarters in California. However, in the late 2010s, Oracle began to reconsider remaining in California due to tax issues and unbusiness-friendly practices. The pandemic sealed the deal the next year, as more flexible work policies for employees eliminated the need for such a large headquarters in California. In December 2020, Oracle announced its move to Texas. Ellison also left California and made Hawaii his permanent residence. Many companies also followed suit in 2020 and 2021, including Tesla, which also moved to Austin.

“Oracle is implementing a more flexible workplace policy for employees and has moved its corporate headquarters from Redwood City, California, to Austin, Texas,” Oracle said in its SEC filing in 2020. “We believe these moves best position Oracle for growth and offer our benefits.” Staff with more flexibility about where and how they work. For many of our employees, this means that, depending on their role, they can choose their office location as well as work from home part-time or continuously. Additionally, we will continue to support key Oracle headquarters around the world, including those in the United States such as Redwood City, Austin, Santa Monica, Seattle, Denver, Orlando, and Burlington, among others, and we expect to add additional locations become over time. By implementing a more modern approach to work, we hope to further improve the quality of life and performance of our employees.”

At the time, Austin was planning to become a rival to Silicon Valley. But after just a few years, technology companies began to leave Austin. High costs, lack of support for start-ups, the climate, political differences and numerous other factors caused companies to leave the city. By 2023, most tech companies have either withdrawn their presence from the city, such as Meta, which moved its offices back to California, or disappeared entirely. Many moves were to Houston, Tulsa, Nashville, Miami or, perhaps more embarrassingly, back to Silicon Valley. While Oracle managed to hold on in 2023, they finally announced their move from Austin to Nashville this week.

During a conversation with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Tuesday, Ellison inadvertently said, “Oracle is moving its massive campus to Nashville and it will ultimately be our headquarters.”

Oracle is moving to Nashville

Then he added, “I shouldn't have said that.” However, with the move now open, Ellison said the move is strategic as Oracle continues to move into the healthcare industry and a move to Nashville would be better for them to expand into this industry. Although Ellison didn't say so, Oracle will also receive about $250 million in tax breaks from Nashville and Tennessee for the move.

“Nashville is also a fantastic place to live,” Ellison added. “It's a great place to raise a family. It has a unique and vibrant culture. And when we surveyed our employees, a large number of employees, Nashville ticked all the boxes. Nashville is also the center of the industry we are most concerned about, which is the healthcare industry.”

He also expanded the new campus itself. It is being designed by Apple Park designer Norman Foster, but looks more like a park than a corporate building.

“The new headquarters will be right on the river. There will be office buildings, a community clinic, restaurants, hotels and a concert hall, as well as a floating stage on the lake for concerts for the community. We want to be part of the community. Our people love it here. And we believe it is the center of our future.”

Experts told the Globe on Friday that the departure of tech companies from Austin or Texas is now in line with what companies do in 2020 when they leave California.

“A lot of companies moved to Texas, particularly Austin, because the state promised them a lot and they thought Austin was this trendy city,” explained San Francisco-based technology attorney David Singh. “But as they discovered, a lot of people absolutely hated Texas. Many companies that moved there were shocked by the number of employees who wanted to leave and go back to work in California or elsewhere a year later, when their original leases expired. They really hated the heat in Texas and house costs were still very high. Not high in San Francisco, but still high enough. For companies, especially startups, they found they had little room to grow in Austin. They stayed away from almost all the investors who were supposed to give them guidance, and they stayed away from the big tech scenes.”

“That's why the 'Texas Miracle' ended so quickly. That's why AI companies remain in Silicon Valley and San Francisco despite the numerous problems there. Everyone is there and can grow faster there. Oracle needed a place to continue growing, and Austin wasn't the right place. It was Nashville because of all the healthcare companies there.

“It will be interesting to see what presence, if any, Oracle maintains in Austin following the move. Oracle still has numerous offices in California because the company likes to be connected to the technology and software community. But Austin? There’s not much connection.”

More information on Oracle's move to Tennessee is coming soon.

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