Tesla's Elon Musk finally relocates to Texas, calls California 'complacent'

San Francisco: After spending his most life in California, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has finally relocated to Texas, calling California 'complacent'.

Revealing this for the first time during an interview for The Wall Street Journal's annual CEO Council summit, Musk said: "California has been winning for a long time, and I think they're taking it for granted".

Musk confirmed the move in an interview with Matt Murray, the Wall Street Journal's editor in chief.

"The two biggest things that I got going on right now are the Starship development in South Texas ... and then the big new U.S. factory for Tesla," the 49-year-old Tesla chief said.

"It wasn't necessarily a great use of my time here (in California)".

Criticising California's economic environment, Musk added. "If a team is winning for too long, they tend to get complacent".

According to a report by The Verge on Tuesday, Musk stated that "Silicon Valley was declining in relevance."

It was reported earlier that he sold all his properties in California for a combined $62.5 million.

Last week, CNBC reported that Musk is planning to leave California and move to Texas that has no state income tax, a move that could save him billions of

Musk last month surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the second-richest person in the world.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index put the Tesla chief executive with a $127.9 billion fortune above Gates at $127.7 billion for the first time.

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 49-year-old entrepreneur has added more than $100 billion to his net worth since January 2020, making him one of the fastest-growing among the world's 500 richest people.

Musk also cited the construction of a new Tesla factory outside Austin, as well as Space X's planned launch site near the South Texas village of Boca Chica, as a reason for his relocation.

Musk frequently visits Texas where Tesla and his startup Boring Company have operations and also a SpaceX facility that began its operations in 2003.

( With inputs from agencies )