World’s second wealthiest man, Elon Musk has dumped California for Texas, saying his stay in the former was not the greatest use of his time.
He made the disclosure in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Matt Murray.
The industrial designer and engineer said the change of scenery would help him concentrate on the “two biggest things that I got going on right now”, which he went on to identify as the Starship development in south Texas and the big new US factory for Tesla.
Criticising America’s most populous state, the business magnate noted that “it wasn’t necessarily a great use of my time here.”
He was quoted to have said that the state had become complacent, noting that “California has been winning for a long time, and I think they’re taking it for granted.”
The 49-year-old’s decision to switch states is believed to be linked to the tax-related issues.
According to the Guardian UK, Texas might potentially offer some tax reprieve for the world’s second-richest man. It does not collect personal income tax, while California has some of the highest state tax rates in the United States.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranks Musk as the world’s second wealthiest person, behind Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, thanks to a 670% surge in Tesla shares this year which boosted Musk’s net worth from $27bn to $155bn.
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