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After less than two years in Texas, Tesla is moving its engineering headquarters back up to northern California, a smitten-sounding Elon Musk announced Wednesday.
During a press conference alongside Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, 55, the pair announced that the electric vehicle manufacturer would return to Palo Alto.
Musk, 51, moved Tesla down to Austin, Texas in the fall of 2021 over tax breaks, the cheaper cost of labor, and a battle between himself and local health officials.
Questions remain as to how Newsom, considered a possible future Democratic presidential candidate, was able lure the car manufacturer back to California.
Since leaving the Golden State in 2021, Musk has been hugely critical of California. He has called it a haven of overregulation, over taxation and accused the state’s leadership of complacency.
During a press conference alongside Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, the pair announced that the electric vehicle manufacturer would return to Palo Alto
Musk moved Tesla down to Austin, Texas in the fall of 2021 over tax breaks, the cheaper cost of labor, and a battle between himself and local health officials
At the time, Musk was adamant about his desire to reopen a massive manufacturing plant in Freemont, which was argued against by the Alameda County Department of Public Health
‘Some of my best friends are in California. I do miss many aspects of California, especially my friends,’ Musk said while glugging a White Claw in a 2021 interview with the conservative satire site The Babylon Bee.
‘But it’s increasingly difficult to get things done. California used to be the land of opportunity. Now it has become and is becoming more so the land of overregulation, overlitigation, over taxation, and scorn,’ he added.
The same year, Musk sold his $30 million Bay Area estate, saying at the time that it was his last home. When he announced the move to Austin, Musk called the Texas capital the ‘biggest boomtown that America has seen in 50 years.’
Musk said at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council in 2020 that he felt Northern California had ‘too much influence in the world.’
‘I think we’ll see some reduction in the influence of Silicon Valley,’ he added.
‘If a team has been winning for too long, they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled, and then they don’t win the championship anymore,’ Musk said at the same conference.
‘California has been winning for a long time… and they are taking it for granted,’ the South African continued.
Newsom has not been silent on his views on Musk. In 2020, the Democrat told CNBC that he felt as though Musk would never leave California.
‘We may not be the cheapest place to do business but we are the best place to do business,’ Newsom said.
In September 2022, Newsom went as far as to take credit for Tesla’s success saying: ‘There was no Tesla without California’s regulatory bodies.’
Old friends? Musk and Newsom talk inside of Tesla’s new Palo Alto engineering HQ
Musk holding his son, X ÿ A-12, while in deep conversation with Newsom
Tesla will return to Palo Alto, California with their engineering HQ. The company’s corporate HQ will remain in Austin, Texas
Musk said in 2021 that he made the final decision to leave California after then-Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez tweeted: ‘F*** Elon Musk’ in 2020
Musk said in a 2021 tweet that the final decision to leave California was made after a Democratic state legislator tweeted: ‘F*** Elon Musk’ over his insistence on opening his Fremont plant amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
A Tesla fan blog called the tweet and indicator of ‘serious problems in the apparatus of the state.’ Musk replied to the tweeted version of the article saying: ‘Exactly.’
The Democrat in question, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, has since left the legislature to assume a leadership role in the California Labor Federation.
‘He never left. His Fremont plant was growing while he supposedly left. It’s just a reminder that Elon Musk is a drama queen,’ Fletcher told DailyMail.com when asked about Musk’s supposed return to Palo Alto.
Another Democrat who took aim at Musk was San Francisco Mayor London Breed who once called him ‘the person who got a ton of tax breaks in California and decided to take that money and run.’
During his press conference Wednesday the tech CEO described the move as a ‘poetic transition,’ while also stating Tesla’s corporate HQ will remain in Texas, where there is no state income tax.
At the time he left, Musk was adamant about his desire to reopen a massive manufacturing plant in Fremont, which was argued against by the Alameda County Department of Public Health.
Musk said he was giddy to announce the move while standing next to the California governor.
‘We’re excited to announce that Tesla’s global engineering headquarters will be right here in the former headquarters of Hewlett-Packard,’ Musk said.
Not all of Tesla’s operations will be centered in the Golden State, however, as the company’s corporate headquarters will remain in Texas.
When Musk moved Tesla down to Texas, he also moved his own residence.
Texas is known for having no state personal income tax which could have been one of the biggest attractions for the CEO who is worth an estimated $182 billion.
The move will put Musk closer to Twitter’s headquarters, as well, located in San Francisco. Musk purchased the social media app for more than $40 billion in the fall.
The distance between Palo Alto and San Francisco is less than 30 miles.
During their joint conference yesterday, Governor Newsom applauded Musk and Tesla’s decision to come back to the Golden State.
‘Tesla is a California company,’ Governor Newsom said. ‘It started here first.’
‘We say about our state, the future happens here first. We are America’s coming attraction,’ Newsom continued.
Musk Wednesday said he was giddy to announce the move while standing next to the California governor
‘We’re excited to announce that Tesla’s global engineering headquarters will be right here in the former headquarters of Hewlett-Packard,’ Musk said.
A sign marks the entrance of Tesla Motors Inc. headquarters in Palo Alto, California
Charging stations are seen at the Tesla Corporate Headquarters on January 03, 2023
‘Tesla is a California company,’ Governor Newsom said. ‘It started here first’
Musk moved Tesla down from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas in 2021
Tesla was given its own border patrol lane at the Texas-Mexico gate
During Wednesday’s press conference, Musk did not specifically address the reason for the move to the west, however, tax incentives could be the reason.
Newsom and the state of California are electric-focused and have supported Tesla over the years.
The governor said bringing Tesla back was critical for the state to become the leader in automotive manufacturing.
‘We are able to lay claim to 44 manufacturing headquarter companies in the electric vehicle space, but none that dominate like Tesla,’ Newsom said.
Overall, California is the largest car manufacturer in the United States.
The factory in Fremont, California is expected to solidify California’s standing as Musk predicts some 600,000 vehicles will be manufactured at the site over the next year.
The governor said bringing Tesla back was critical for the state to become the leader in automotive manufacturing
Newsom and Musk appeared chummy at times throughout the meeting, even joking about their decades long ‘relationship’
Newsom and Musk appeared chummy at times throughout the meeting, even joking about their decades-long ‘relationship.’
Musk joked that Newsom, whose state has put significant emphasis on going electric, likely put down a $100,000 deposit for his first Tesla in 2007.
Newsome joked back that he only purchased his Tesla when he ‘had money’ to do so and said he and Musk had similar net worth at the time.
‘Your [net worth] went negative, and I got a pension, so eat your heart out,’ Newsom laughed.
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