Tesla CEO Elon Musk put his California houses on the market this year while he was sparring with state lawmakers over COVID-19 restrictions.
He’s simultaneously been expanding operations in Texas and cozying up to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, CNBC reported.
"Now, several of his close friends and associates say that Musk has told them he’s planning to move to the Lone Star State. The people with knowledge of his plans asked not to be named because their conversations were private," CNBC saod.
Musk is the world’s second-wealthiest person behind Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Texas has no state income tax, while California’s is the highest in the country.
Tesla (TSLA) stock has skyrocketed almost 600% this year, in part on expectations it could join the S&P 500 Index -- it will on Dec. 21 -- and also helped by the fifth consecutive quarter of profit posted in October, Bloomberg reported.
Musk and Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn have been focused on cost reductions for several quarters even as Tesla spends billions on new factories in Austin, Texas, and near Berlin to expand its global production and sales footprint.
Musk earlier this week warned in an internal email his company’s rallying shares could get “crushed” if investors start to worry about the electric-car manufacturer’s ability to deliver on profit expectations.
Musk urged employees to stay focused on cutting costs and prevent a reversal in Tesla’s soaring stock price in an email sent Tuesday to employees as the Palo Alto, California-based company works to meet a target of delivering half a million cars this year.
“When looking at our actual profitability, it is very low at around 1% for the past year. Investors are giving us a lot of credit for future profitability, but if, at any point, they conclude that’s not going to happen, our stock will immediately get crushed like a souffle under a sledgehammer!” Musk wrote in the email viewed by Bloomberg News.