- At the annual Tesla shareholder meeting on Thursday, October 7, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla will move its headquarters to Austin, becoming the latest Silicon Valley company to make the switch to Texas.
- Musk did not reveal when the move would happen and emphasized that Tesla will not be abandoning California, with production at the Fremont factory set to increase by 50 percent.
- Musk pointed to the Bay Area’s high cost of living to justify the move, arguing that many employees struggled to afford houses and ended up with lengthy commutes.
UPDATE 10/8/21, 4:10 p.m.: At the same shareholder conference, Tesla provided revised launch dates for upcoming models. The Cybertruck was supposed to start production this year but it has been pushed back to 2022 with volume production taking off in 2023. The Semi, originally planned to launch in 2020, has been delayed to 2023, as has the Roadster that was first unveiled in 2017.
Yesterday, at Tesla’s 2021 shareholder meeting, CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla will officially move it headquarters to Austin, Texas. Tesla joins a number of Silicon Valley tech firms, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Oracle, that are shifting their main bases to Texas, enticed by the state’s low tax rates and business-friendly policies. Musk did not specify when the move would occur or where in Austin the new headquarters would be, although it is safe to assume that it will be based near the Gigafactory site that is set to be the main factory for the upcoming Cybertruck and Tesla Semi.
This official announcement was not the first time Musk had suggested a move to Texas. During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the CEO threatened to leave California after the state’s strict pandemic restrictions made it difficult to restart production. Tesla then began contraction on the Austin Gigafactory, and soon afterward Musk himself moved to the Lone Star State. Now Tesla’s central office will follow suit, but Musk made it clear that Tesla would not fully abandon California. At the shareholder meeting, Musk said that Tesla would expand in California, aiming to boost production at the Fremont plant by 50 percent.
Unlike when he threatened to leave last year, Musk did not cite any political or pandemic-related disagreements with California when he announced the move to Texas. Instead, he pointed to the cost of living in the Bay Area, arguing, “It’s tough for people to afford houses, and a lot of people have to come from far away.” Musk believes that the business and living conditions in Texas will allow the company to become more productive. The new headquarters will include an “ecological paradise,” with the Gigafactory built alongside the Colorado River and Musk planning to create a boardwalk and hiking trail that will be open to the public.
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
