Elon Musk to move SpaceX and X HQ from California to Texas in protest over gender-identity law

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

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

He called a new law signed on Monday by California governor Gavin Newsom that bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change the “final straw”.

“I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children,” Mr Musk wrote.

Tesla, where Mr Musk is chief executive, moved its corporate headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto, California, in 2021.

Mr Musk has also said that he has moved his residence from California to Texas, where there is no state personal income tax.

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.