Latest Updates: Musk Confirms Tesla Will Move HQ to Austin, Texas

Tesla was threatened with abandoning its headquarters in California last year, and CEO Elon Musk on Thursday announced it would move those companies to Austin, Texas.

“This is not a problem with Tesla leaving California,” Musk said Thursday, adding that production at Tesla’s main factory in Fremont would increase by 50%.

“But we’re only touching the side of the bowl… it’s like, oops,” he told Austin after the company’s annual meeting of shareholders.

Musk cites affordable concerns for workers in California and limited expansion in the Bay Area.

He said that in Austin, where Cybertruck will be built, life is more affordable and easier for others to visit. “5 minutes from the airport and 15 minutes from downtown.”

Tesla’s current headquarters are in Palo Alto. When Musk threatened to move Tesla’s headquarters ‘immediately’ in May 2020, the Fremont plant was ordered to shut down in response to Covid-19. Musk resisted the threat, filed a complaint, and began production without permission.

Musk made no mention of politics in his speech on Thursday and repeatedly said the operation in California was going to expand, “especially here in Texas.”

Tesla announced early at its shareholder meeting that longtime board member Antonio Gracias would be stepping down. He has been an independent director since 2010.