Between high taxes and California’s draconian COVID-19 restrictions, Elon Musk has had enough of life in the not-so-golden state.
During The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council summit on Tuesday, the Tesla CEO said that while there are "a lot of things that are really great about California," the state "has taken innovators for granted."
Thus, he decided to move to Texas, which is home to some of his other business ventures.
"We've got the Starship development here in South Texas, where I am right now," Musk said. "And then we've got big factory developments just outside Austin."
Taking up residence in Texas comes with personal benefits for Mr. Musk: The state doesn’t collect state income or capital-gains tax for individuals. The auto executive qualified this year for billions of dollars in stock-option compensation as part of a pay-package agreement, making him the second-richest person in the world.
During the spring, when Mr. Musk was sparring over coronavirus shelter-in-place orders that shut his factory near San Francisco, California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CNBC he was “not worried about Elon leaving any time soon” and the state was committed to the car maker’s success. “We may not be the cheapest place to do business but we are the best place to do business,” Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said. (WSJ)
Commenting on Musk’s decision, comedian Adam Carolla wondered what the Tesla CEO's decision says about everyone else living in California.
"Let's do this simple thought experiment. I just heard Elon Musk was moving to Texas," he said on Fox News’s "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "So the smartest man on the planet is deciding to move away from the dumbest governor in the United States...What does that say to the rest of us?"
Comedian @adamcarolla is leaving California:
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) December 9, 2020
"Let's do this simple thought experiment. I just heard @elonmusk was moving to Texas. So the smartest man on the planet is deciding to move away from the dumbest governor in the United States ... What does that say to the rest of us?" pic.twitter.com/xp5hx7Dpf3
"You know the movie 'Escape from Los Angeles' with Kurt Russell? That has now become a reality show," he said.