The real reason Elon Musk is moving SpaceX and X to Texas from ‘woke’ California

The billionaire businessman is feuding with California governor Gavin Newsom over the state’s latest transgender policy. But Ryan Coogan wonders if there might be more to the story than that...

Musk’s preoccupation with transgender issues is well documented (Getty)

Believe it or not, there was a point about 10 years ago when the name Elon Musk was shorthand for “brilliant inventor” instead of “person who gets all of their news from 4chan”. There’s even a line in an early episode Star Trek: Discovery where one character compares him to the Wright brothers and Zefram Cochrane (the fictional inventor who pioneered interstellar flight in the show’s lore). I can’t speak to Cochrane but I don’t think the Wright Brothers were especially known for getting into Twitter feuds with Stephen King.

Now, though, whenever you see Musk’s name in the news, you just know you’re in for a treat. This time the Twitter/X owner has announced he is moving his SpaceX headquarters out of California, following the introduction of a bill which will prohibit schools from outing transgender children to their parents. He will also be relocating his social media company, with both now operating out of Texas.

“This is 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,” the billionaire wrote on X. “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.”

In response, Newsom posted a screenshot of a 2022 tweet by Donald Trump – in which the former president mocks Musk’s various businesses and says that he could have told the SpaceX owner to “drop to [his] knees and beg” for his approval during their meeting – adding: “You bent the knee.” Musk responded: “You never get off your knees” – a reply which can be interpreted in a few different ways, none of them particularly civil.

As with everything Musk-related, the exchange was dignified and respectful and really helped to vindicate all those Big Bang Theory and Simpsons cameos we gave him in the 2010s. However, you do have to wonder at Musk’s reasoning for uprooting his business and moving it 1,400 miles east – is this really a culture war issue for him?

Musk’s preoccupation with transgender issues is well documented. He has vowed to “actively lobby” to criminalise gender-affirming care for minors and under his leadership, hate speech against transgender people on X – among other vulnerable groups – has risen dramatically. He has also repeatedly liked and shared transphobic content via his personal account, including Matt Walsh’s anti-trans propaganda film What Is a Woman?

Just a few days before his spat with Newsom, he committed to spend $45m per month on a pro-Trump super PAC – the former president’s hostility to the trans community is well documented, at one point referring to trans healthcare for minors as “the disfigurement of our youth”.

However, Musk isn’t the only business owner to flee California in recent months. The state’s higher taxes and minimum wage laws have caused several businesses to seek greener pastures in recent months, including Neutrogena, QuickFee, Oak View Group, Unical Aviation and Blaze Pizza. Once a haven for tech and business innovation, bills introduced by Newsom have resulted in an exodus for a number of industries, with many moving to Texas, where business regulations are significantly laxer.

It’s bad news for the governor’s party, which has made overtures towards replacing incumbent president Joe Biden as the nominee at the upcoming November election – with Newsom, along with current VP Kamala Harris, leading the pack. In a country where “tax” is a dirty word, incidents such as these make Newsom incredibly weak on the issue – especially when compared with Donald Trump, who made “business” a watchword of his first stint in office.

Likewise, X headquarters was revealed last week to have been advertised for a sublease on a California real estate website, indicating that the move may have been in the works for some time.

Regardless of the reason, the departure of businesses as big as those owned by Musk will be a blow to the California economy. It’s another indication that the state’s liberal idealism is struggling to accommodate industry’s desire for more right-leaning economic policies such as deregulation and tax breaks, and a further indication that the tide is turning for America’s blue states.

Nevertheless, it seems to me that Musk’s willingness to blame the move on legislation intended to protect transgender children is a cynical abuse of his wealth to push for increasingly radical social changes that favour the right. “Outing” kids – whether it be their sexuality or gender – is dangerous and irresponsible, and can potentially expose them to harm if they come from a household that doesn’t accept them for who they are. The fact that Musk would use his influence to throw a tantrum to try and discredit such legislation is pathetic, and – in my eyes – shows us exactly what kind of person he is.

There was a point when Elon Musk’s public image was that of a “real-life Iron Man”, as if he was some kind of superhero that would save us all through his genius and technological innovation. I’m glad we’ve been disabused of that notion. He’s far from super – and he’s certainly no hero.