Elon Musk has reportedly moved his private foundation from California to Texas, further fueling rumors that he’s planning to move to the Lone Star state.
The billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX moved the Musk Foundation, to Austin Texas, where it created an entity over the summer.
The foundation’s two locations in California and Austin merged, according to a certificate of the merger filed with the Texas Secretary of State in October that was signed by Musk and the surviving entity is located in Austin, according to Bloomberg.
Musk, 49, has been slowly building roots in Texas. SpaceX and Tesla have facilities there, Musk has recently put all his California properties on the market and has allegedly cozied up to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after clashing with local leaders over coronavirus lockdowns.
Elon Musk, 49, has reportedly moved his private foundation from California to Texas, further fueling rumors that he’s planning to move to the Lone Star state
Musk has been slowly building roots in Texas. SpaceX has two facilities in Texas. A view of the Boca Chica based on November 11 above
On Monday Musk shared an image of a rocket on a pad in South Texas. At the moment SpaceX is based in Hawthorne near Los Angeles
The Musk Foundation has an extremely minimal website stating it is dedicated to renewable energy and advocacy, human space exploration, pediatric research, science and engineering education, and research and development into ‘safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity.’
In June 2018 the foundation’s assets totaled almost $329million, according to last year’s tax return filing, as per Bloomberg.
The filing showed a $2million gift to the Future of Life Institute in the Boston area which is dedicated to ‘keeping artificial intelligence beneficial.’
The Musk Foundation’s small board of directors includes Jared Birchall, who was formerly the senior vice president at Morgan Stanley.
He purchased a home in Austin in August and according to his Linkedin based in Austin.
SpaceX, though is based in Hawthorne near Los Angeles, has two facilities in Texas. It has operated out of Boca Chica since 2003.
Tesla, the electric car company, is also building an assembly plant in Austin. Tesla is currently headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
CNBC reported last week that Musk has told friends he’s moving to Austin himself once the pandemic is over.
The move comes after Musk clashed fiercely with California leaders including Gov. Newsom and Alameda County officials when shutdowns stopped production at Tesla factories in Fremont earlier this year. A view of a masked worker exiting a Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle at the Fremont plant on May 11 above
Tesla, the electric car company, is also building an assembly plant in Austin. Tesla is currently headquartered in Palo Alto, California. View of the Fremont, California plant above
The move comes after Musk clashed fiercely with California leaders including Gov. Newsom and Alameda County officials when shutdowns stopped production at Tesla factories in Fremont in the spring of this year.
Texas’ top lawmaker Gov. Gregg Abbott, said Musk has chosen Texas due to its ‘freedoms’
Musk defied the health order and reopened early, slamming the regulations as ‘fascist’ during a shocking April earnings call saying, ‘Give people back their goddamn freedom.’
Despite his frustrations with the COVID-19 restrictions, he revealed on Twitter he tested positive for the virus last month.
He then sued Alameda County and soon afterwards in May he announced that he would move his Tesla headquarters to Texas or Nevada and started allegedly cozying up to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Abbott seemed to confirm the CEO’s planned move over the summer.
In July he said on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ that Musk told him he had got a Texas driver’s license and is a ‘bona fide Texan now.’
Abbott also said Musk was building his next Tesla factory in the state because it would give him the freedom to ‘expand the way he wanted to expand.’
Musk put seven California properties worth $137million up for sale in May. The billionaire had initially listed two Bel Air properties on Zillow. This property was listed for $30M. It was purchased by Musk in 2012 for $17million
This image shows the four homes that Musk recently listed on Zillow for a combined $62.5million. The homes (circled above) are within walking distance of each other
This home was purchased by Musk last year. Musk paid $6.4million for this residence which is located on Somera Road
Elon Musk listed five California properties for a combined $97.5million nearly two weeks after he put two Bel Air homes on the market for $39.5million after vowing to sell off his material possessions. This home sits on Chalon Road in Los Angeles
The fifth home, which is located in Hillsborough, California, has been listed for $35million. Musk purchased the Hillsborough home in June 2017 for $23.3million. The 16,000 square foot mansion sits on 47.4 acres of land and features 10 bedrooms and 10 baths
Elon Musk has put two of his California homes on the market just days after a bizarre Twitter rant
Tesla reportedly received tens of millions of dollars in property tax breaks from Texas to build the new factory in the state.
In the pandemic Musk’s wealth has surged to more than $145billion, securing his position as the world’s second-richest person.
Musk has also been a critic of California’s tax policies and claimed it had developed a ‘winning-for-too-long problem’ that was forcing out the super-rich.
A move to Texas could potentially save Musk billions of tax dollars based on his 2018 Tesla compensation package, which rewards him when the company hits certain milestones.
The company is already worth over $550 billion, after starting the year well below $100 billion.
California has the highest income tax in the country at 13.3%, while Texas has no state income tax.
Musk is currently the highest paid CEO in the US, taking home an estimated $600million. As of October, Musk had earned awards currently worth about $20 billion before taxes.
Musk has lived in the LA area for two decades. He has five teenage sons and welcomed a baby boy earlier this year with his partner singer Grimes. Musk and Grimes together at the Met Gala in 2018
Musk’s also started to hire for his tunnel start-up, The Boring Company, in Texas. The company researches and develops public transportation systems.
Boring Company investor Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of Palantir and friend of Musk’s, recently relocated to the Austin area from Silicon Valley.
After announcing the company’s move back in May, Musk revealed in a series of bizarre tweets that he intended to sell ‘almost all physical possessions’.
‘Will own no house,’ Musk wrote.
Musk then rapidly listed seven California homes for sale, worth a total of $137million, in May.
Four of the Los Angeles homes were listed on Zillow as a multi-property listing with an asking price of $62.5million.
He also listed two Bel Air properties, including one estate for $30million.
The 16,251 square foot mansion features six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a two-story library, swimming pool, and a tennis court.
Musk has lived in the LA area for two decades. He has five teenage sons and welcomed a baby boy earlier this year with his partner singer Grimes.