Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that he would be moving the company’s headquarters to Austin, paving the way for potential future growth in the city.
Musk said the company still intends to produce vehicles in California and Nevada, but he noted the company is running out of room to expand at its plant in Fremont, California. He also said the cost of living has forced employees to live further away, making for long commute times.
“We’re taking it as far as possible, but there’s a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area,” he said.
Musk went on to say the company would “continue to expand in California – significantly – but even more so here in Texas.”
Austin Mayor Steve Adler was happy to hear the news, welcoming Tesla to the city on Twitter.
“It’s a tech company that creates the clean-manufacturing, middle-skill jobs Austin needs,” he wrote. “We’re one of the safest big cities, with a strong innovative, entrepreneurial, environmentally-focused culture.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott also welcomed Tesla to Texas, tweeting “The Lone Star State is the land of opportunity and innovation.”
Musk has hinted for some time now that he would move Tesla’s headquarters to Texas. In May 2020, frustrated by an Alameda County health officials’ advice not to reopen the company’s Fremont production plant, Musk tweeted it was the “final straw” and that he would move the company’s headquarters to either Texas or Nevada.
Tesla already has a presence in Austin, of course, but Musk’s announcement suggests there will be even further growth in the city.
Tesla is in the process of building a four- to five-million-square-foot gigafactory near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Musk has said the facility will produce Tesla’s new Cybertruck and Tesla Semi in addition to Model Y and Model 3 vehicles “for the eastern half of North America.” The gigafactory could employ at least 5,000 people.
Tesla’s website currently lists about 350 open positions in Austin.
Musk disclosed in December that he had personally moved from California to Austin.
Meanwhile, Musk’s SpaceX is also establishing a presence in Austin with a new factory that develops equipment for Starlink, a branch of SpaceX aimed at developing high-speed, low latency broadband internet via small, low-orbit satellites.
SpaceX has two other locations in Texas — one in McGregor and another in the Brownsville and South Padre area.
