Elon Musk flirts with Colorado and Texas as US states battle to be the site of Tesla's HQ

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk is flirting with different US states as they lobby to be the site of the company's HQ.
• Musk has threatened to shift the firm's headquarters from California after getting embroiled in a fight with Alameda County, the site of Tesla's Fremont factory, over a shutdown order.
• He tweeted Saturday Tesla will be moving its HQ to Texas or Nevada, and has been in discussions with the governor and Texas and appears to be considering Colorado.
• Musk re-opened the Fremont factory on Monday in contravention of a local shelter-in-place order, and Tesla sued Alameda County.
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US states are rushing to court Tesla CEO Elon Musk, after he threatened to move the company's HQ out of California.

The billionaire is in a spat with California's Alameda County over the closure of Tesla's Fremont facility as part of a shelter-in-place order during the pandemic.

He tweeted on Saturday that he would be moving Tesla out of California.

"Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA," Musk tweeted.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot said in an interview on Tuesday that he has already spoken to Musk about the possibility of giving Tesla a new home in Texas.

"I've had the opportunity to talk to Elon Musk and he's genuinely interested in Texas and genuinely frustrated with California [...] We've just got to wait and see how things play out," said Abbot.

Meanwhile other states are throwing their hat into the ring.

Governor of Colorado Jared Polis tweeted tagging Musk: "We want you here @elonmusk in Colorado, we are the best of all worlds. We're very pro-business, low taxes, also pro-immigration, pro-LGBT, globally-minded."

Musk replied: "Hi Jared, Colorado is great! I think your policies make a lot of sense."

It's possible Musk's threat is baseless, especially as Alameda County seems to have backed down through this week.

Tesla on Saturday filed a lawsuit against Alameda County, and Musk went on to re-open Tesla's Fremont factory in defiance of the order.

Late on Tuesday, local health officials said they had sanctioned Tesla to re-open from May 18 if proper health and safety measures are implemented.