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Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

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Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#51

Post by marcusverus »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #9

I know this is charged but it's genuine question due to my ignorance - why are companies having or moving HQs to Texas? It feels that : 1. It's way out of temperate climate that one would live in when given full choice and all things equal (understanding they never are of course - I live in great white North :) 2. Politics are highly conservative and frequently invasive. now clearly half of Americans like it that way…

1) Very true, but unless you're an avid hiker or a marathoner, I'm not sure how big of a role climate plays in deciding a home.

2) Texas politics are invasive if you're a woman in need of an abortion, sure. But then, California politics are invasive for everyone who earns an income. If Texas politics are 'frequently invasive', then California politics must be downright suffocating.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#52

Post by andreygrehov »

georgewsinger wrote: post #14

Warning: This post is written from a libertarian/center-right viewpoint. While this move is great, I'm skeptical of the idea that moving to Austin is a political panacea for moderate/center-right/libertarian governance. - The same percentage of people who voted for hard leftist candidates in SF also voted for hard leftist candidates in Austin. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki…

> There are homeless issues in Austin, just as there are in SF (though not as bad as SF, it's getting worse every year).

- Homelessness in Texas has decreased by 55% since 2010.

- Homelessness in California has increased by 35% since 2010.

So, there is massive a 90% gap. California is obviously doing something wrong there.

Source: United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#53

Post by joewadcan »

barney54 wrote: post #29

Now that Elon has extracted a bunch of subsidies from California, he is moving on.

Which ones specifically? The only two I know of are: - The low/zero emission car rebate that Toyota and every other manufacturer has used. - The clean energy manufacturing tax write off that applies to over a hundred other companies.

I don't think California has given Elon any significant subsidies. When Tesla asked states to compete on the Gigafactory, California lost to Nevada.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#55

Post by rrdharan »

cletus wrote: post #27

Good. This will both alleviate pressure on the Bay Area as well as accelerating the political shift to the left in Texas. It's a win all around. I actually think that living in the Bay Area as a tech employee is increasingly unjustifiable from an ethical point-of-view. It was once the case where that was necessary for many career paths but that's increasingly not the case and the pandemic has hastened that shift. Why…

Here’s the rub.. his job also goes away when those companies go away.

I still agree with you for a different reason though - if you believe that it’s a poorly governed place, at some point it becomes immoral or at least unwise to continue to sustain it with your tax dollars.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#56

Post by Apocryphon »

The official reason is because of housing:

"To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California," Musk said. "Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory it's jammed."

But, he added, "It's tough for people to afford houses, and people have to come in from far away....There's a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/tesla-moves-headqu...

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#57

Post by pdq »

This is mostly symbolic so far as Tesla doesn’t even have the factory ready.

Elon has options to exercise in Q4 before they expire, which will realize a substantial capital gain.

By moving both personally and his business to Texas, he is likely avoiding California state income tax and capital gains, since Texas has neither.

I’d say that’s bad faith, given how much California has subsidized his companies.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#58

Post by chroem- »

ericmay wrote: post #28
chroem- wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2. Politics are highly conservative and frequently invasive. Given Elon's previous commentary, I think he might disagree with this evaluation.

On abortion or taxes? I think it’s an important distinction that we need to address - social conservatism, what that means, fiscal conservatism, or outright low taxes, etc.

Elon has been a fairly outspoken critic of California's covid measures, as well as the state's cultural stance on free speech issues. He had previously threatened to move all of his business operations out of California because of covid restrictions, and now it looks like he is making good on those earlier comments.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#59

Post by jeffbee »

dlp211 wrote: post #30
joegahona wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxes are much better and a low cost of living.

> Taxes are much better Only for the upper-middle class and rich. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-c...

Right. People don’t get this because tax policy is dominated by right-wing memes but tax load for median families is way higher in Texas. Property tax rates on the median house are higher, while the effective income tax on the median income in California is very little. Median income tax burden in California is ~$350/yr.
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