(KRON/NEXSTAR) — The Golden State has long been a hotbed of entrepreneurship — but that reputation has been under threat since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, a variety of economic and social forces came to the fore, and many large companies decided to exit.
A 2021 report by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in August 2021 found that 74 corporate headquarters left California in the first six months of the year, in addition to 64 companies that moved away in 2020.
Bay Area counties made up five of the top 10 counties to have relocated their headquarters, with the San Francisco Bay Area leading the way. Traditionally, many Californian companies are now converting to the Lone Star State.
Who Left California?
FILE – In this December 1, 2020 file photo, SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer Media Awards in Berlin. (Hannibal Hanske/Pool Photo via AP, FILE)
Tesla Motors: From Palo Alto to Austin, Texas – No discussion of companies leaving California would be complete without talking about Tesla. The company officially relocated to the Lone Star State in December 2021 following a standoff between CEO Elon Musk and Alameda County health officials over COVID-19 regulations during the initial lockdown.
Announcing the change, Musk said, “California has been winning for a long time, and I think they’re taking it lightly.”
Musk also moved his personal residence to Texas, which has no state income tax.
Despite appearances, Musk has not partnered with California as the magnate trying to buy San Francisco-based Twitter.
Oracle: Redwood City For Austin- Oracle, the name of the San Francisco Giants ballpark and the former name of the arena the Golden State Warriors called home, announced its move in December 2020.
Bloomberg reported that Executive Chairman Larry Ellison and Chief Executive Officer Safra Katz were prominent supporters of former President Donald Trump and that corporate leaders felt increasingly connected to modern Silicon Valley. Executives at the world’s third-largest software company had also moved their annual OpenWorld conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas, and the company was looking to build a younger and cheaper workforce.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise: From San Jose to Spring – Hewlett Packard Enterprise moved to the Lone Star State that same month, Governor Greg Abbott(R) announced, as reported by Nexstar’s KRON4 at the time.
CEO Antonio Neri said at the time, “With an eye on the future, our business needs, cost savings opportunities, and team members’ preferences regarding the future of work, we will be relocating HPE’s headquarters to the Houston area. Excited to do.” “Houston is an attractive market to recruit and retain the diverse talents of the future, and here we are currently building a state-of-the-art new campus. We look forward to further expanding our strong market presence.”
Charles Schwab Corp.: San Francisco to Westlake — The financial services company merged with TD Ameritrade in 2020, resulting in the company’s headquarters being relocated to Westlake, a suburb of Fort Worth. The move was official on January 1, 2021.
Airbnb bans parties in listings worldwide
Why?
Stanford researchers found that the regulatory climate and taxes have historically been important drivers for companies to take the plunge. CEOs ranked California’s tax and regulatory policies the worst of any US state, with a total of 518 state agencies, boards and commissions.
“In Sacramento, the legislature is consistently passing legislation that extends civil liability to corporations and
Homeowners,” the report said, adding that another factor is that California workers also need more money than workers in other states.
“California workers often have high wages (or demands) for high living expenses, exorbitant real estate prices, rising income tax rates, expensive utilities, and in some cases paying for private schools to escape the failed public school system. ‘ the researchers said. “For an employer, the cost of labor is higher than anywhere else when compared to levies, which include not only wages and salaries, but also statutory and fringe benefits paid by the employer.”
According to the study, Texas is the most business-friendly state and California is ranked 49th out of 50. Forbes reported in May that Texas is the state with the most Fortune 500 companies.
go to texas
Y Texas, a business resource that tracks corporate relocations in Texas, shows that 62 companies relocated in 2021 alone. There have been at least 14 business transfers this year.
So far in 2022, a wave of big companies including construction equipment giant Caterpillar, specialty metals maker Allegheny Technologies (ATI) and fiber sensor solutions company Darkpulse have sailed into the Lone Star State.
Data shows companies have relocated from 17 other states, with popular landing spots being Austin, Irving, Houston and Dallas.
source
