Elon Musk To Move SpaceX And X HQs From California Over Gender-Identity Law

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday said that he is moving the headquarters of his companies X and SpaceX to Texas from California.

Taking to the microblogging site, Musk said that he plans on moving SpaceX from Hawthorne California to Starbase, Texas, while X will move from San Francisco to Austin.

He called a new law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, which bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child's gender identification change the "final straw".

Musk said, "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."

Musk moved Tesla's corporate headquarters from California's Palo Alto to Austin in 2021. He also said that he moved his residence to Texas, where there is no state personal income tax.

The bill which was signed into law by Newsom required schools to notify the students' parents if their child wishes to change gender identities or change pronouns. "The state will take away your kids in California," the Tesla CEO said.

Musk has been public about voicing his opinions on politics, often criticising the Biden administration and Democrats' stance on issues including transgender rights and immigration.

Notably, California is more of a historic Democrats supporter while Texas is considered to be a reliable Republican stronghold.

SpaceX's magnificent headquarters is located near Los Angeles, a major aerospace hub where thousands of employees build the company's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon astronaut capsules and some Starshield satellites.

Earlier this year, Musk moved SpaceX's incorporation to Texas from Delaware, after a judge's decision invalidating his $56 billion compensation plan at electric vehicle maker Tesla.

Musk has previously been criticised for his provocative statements about transgender people, including his own daughter.

Musk's daughter's court room documents had said that she no longer lived or wished to be related to her biological father "in any way, shape or form". She even changed her name and gender recognition legally.

Musk reportedly had blamed his daughter's art school for changing her "full-on communism" politics.

On his microblogging platform X, Musk had in the past also said that he will actively lobby to criminalise gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

In 2023, the Tesla CEO had also revoked X's rules which protected users from being purposefully misgendered or deadname, using a transgender person's name before their transition, The Guardian reported. However, these policies were brought back to play this year.

(With AP and Reuters inputs)