Automaker giant Tesla Inc. is reportedly planning to shift its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas where it is currently building a car and battery complex.

Confirming the news, Tesla CEO Elon Musk added that they will be continuing to expand their activities in California, despite moving to Texas. The EV maker is planning to increase production output in Nevada and California factories by 50%.

The Fremont, California factory is quite confined and the cost of living for the workers is quite high in the state, Musk claimed.

Musk himself moved to Texas in December to work closely on the automaker’s upcoming plant. One of the launch sites for SpaceX is also located at the Southern tip of the Lone Star State in Texas.

If reports are to be believed, the billionaire is having an on and off relationship with Silicon Valley, driving him to move the firm’s headquarters and future programs to Texas. The shutdown of Tesla’s California factory due to the COVID-19 outbreak is also one of the major reasons for shifting headquarters.

It is worth noting here that shareholders Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch were reelected as the Board of Directors despite the criticism from advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). It was against the re-election of the two members due to rising concerns about extremely high compensation packages to non-executive board members.

Besides, shareholders also refused to accept the stockholder proposal demanding a study on the impact of Tesla’s use of arbitration on workplace harassment and discrimination.

This came after the federal jury in San Francisco ordered Tesla to pay a sum of USD 137 million to a former black contractor who sued the company for racial discrimination at the workplace, sources confirmed.

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https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/tesla-moving-headquarters-to-texas-from-california-1038518.html