Elon Musk is reportedly planning a move to Texas after his tirade about California's coronavirus response
- Elon Musk has informed friends that he plans to move to Texas, CNBC reported.
- The news came after Musk threatened in May to move Tesla out of California because of its response to the coronavirus.
- Texas has no state income tax, which could save Musk a lot of money on his massive pay package.
The US's most well-paid CEO is mulling a move that could save him plenty of money on taxes.
According to CNBC's Lora Kolodny, Elon Musk spoke with associates and mentioned that he was planning to move from California to Texas, a state important to both Tesla and SpaceX.
A move would make good, at least partially, on the billionaire's threat to move his automaker from California in May amid a spat with local regulators about their response to cull the spreading coronavirus. Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, was required to cease operations for a short period of time.
Even before the tweet, Musk had called California's rules fascist, urging the state on an earnings call to "give people back their goddamn freedom."
The next month, Tesla announced Texas as the location of its second American car factory in an area near Austin, thanks in part to lucrative tax breaks and incentives offered by the county and local school districts.
For Musk personally, Texas' lack of a state income tax is a clear incentive compared with California, which has the highest one in the country. Musk's 2020 income is set to be just as large as his 2019 pay - the most of any CEO at just under $600 million - thanks to a series of stock-option awards unlocked by various corporate performance metrics. In total, they could reach more than $55 billion.
Musk has listed many of his California homes for sale recently.