Elon Musk is moving both SpaceX and X headquarters out of California and into Texas over the liberal state’s new gender identity laws.
The 52-year-old billionaire announced the major move on Tuesday, saying Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signing of a law that bans California school districts from notifying parents if their child is transgender was ‘the final straw.’
‘Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California to Starbase, Texas,’ he wrote on X.
‘I did make it clear to Gov. Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.’
Musk later added that the social media site will also be moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Austin, saying he has ‘had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building.’
Elon Musk, 52, announced on Tuesday he is moving Space X and X out of California in favor of the Lone Star state
He went on to suggest ‘many will follow’ and noted in a follow-up post that ‘Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital publicly voiced his support for Trump six weeks ago.
‘Silicon Valley has shifted,’ Musk said.
The billionaire has already moved Tesla’s headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin after Alameda County officials would not let him re-open the plant under coronavirus restrictions – despite Newsom announcing that manufacturers could restart operations.
He followed through on the promise about a year later, lauding Texas’ lack of an income tax and the abundance of housing in the area – though he announced he would still maintain Tesla’s ‘engineering headquarters’ in California.
Musk himself had even moved to the Lone Star state in 2020 after living in California for two decades and has already been in the process of moving SpaceX to Texas as he spoke out against California’s liberal policies.
He cited California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to sign a controversial bill that bans California school districts from notifying parents if their child is transgender as the ‘final straw’
He has rallied against the use of preferred pronouns – often mocking the practice on social media and dismissing it as part of a ‘woke’ agenda that is dangerous for society.
Musk is the father of a trans daughter from whom he is estranged, and he blames her California private school education for making her politically far left and turning her against him.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been on the opposite side, however, often championing these woke ideals – even though he, too, has moved his family out of one of the state’s largest cities and into an exclusive area.
On Monday, he enacted a law that blocks public school districts from requiring staff to notify parents when their children change the pronouns they use in class.
It reversed decisions in more conservative school districts that ordered teachers to notify parents if a student changed their name or pronouns, or requested to use facilities or participate in programs that didn’t match their official gender.
He said SpaceX will now move its headquarters from Hawthorne, Calif. to Starbase, Texas
Musk said he had previously spoken to the California governor about his woke policies, warning that it may force businesses to leave the state
Democratic state officials who pushed for the law, argued that students have a right to privacy, and that some LGBTQ+ students live in unwelcoming households and need protection from their own parents.
Trans activists also argued that such guidelines are vital, as some kids need protection from their old-fashioned parents who won’t accept their desire to change sex.
But parents have since hit out at the policy, telling DailyMail.com the law would encourage more school districts to implement their own secret sex change policies and leave moms and dads unable to trust teachers.
They say they should instead be kept in the loop about their child’s gender identity.
‘This is a five alarm fire ethically and legally because it excludes parents from knowing vital information about their own child’s school records,’ said Erika Sanzi, from the campaign group Parents Defending Education.
‘If a school facilitates the gender transition of a minor without notifying parents, they are engaged in a psychosocial intervention without parental consent.’
X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, will now be moving from San Francisco to Austin
Announcing the decision, Musk said he has ‘had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building’
Some conservative California lawmakers have also blamed Newsom for the tech companies’ departures.
‘Gavin Newsom’s anti-parent agenda isn’t just bad for families – now it’s doing serious damage to California’s economy,’ Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher told the Sacramento Bee.
‘With the highest unemployment rate in the nation, you’d think our governor would be doing everything possible to protect jobs.
‘Instead, he’s pandering to extremists in his party by cutting parents out of their kids’ education and driving even more businesses to pack up for other states.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
But in an apparent swipe at the billionaire on his own platform, the governor reposted former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post from 2022 bashing electric vehicles and Musk.
The former president claimed in the post that Musk visited him in the Oval Office asking for help ‘on all of his many subsidized projects’ and telling him he was a ‘big Trump fan and Republican.
‘I could have said “drop to your knees and beg,” and he would have done it,’ Trump wrote at the time.
Newsom, though, wrote that the tycoon – who has endorsed Trump for president – has since ‘bent the knee.’
