Private rocket company SpaceX announced Wednesday that company founder Elon Musk will move its headquarters from Delaware to Texas, weeks after a Delaware judge invalidated his pay package at Tesla, another company he owns. announced that it had moved to the state.
Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson on Wednesday issued a certificate confirming that the state has accepted the company’s request to relocate, according to a document posted on her office’s website. A copy has been revealed. A spokeswoman for Nelson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk, the billionaire Texas resident and owner of automaker Tesla, is in trouble in Delaware. Last month, a judge overturned his pay structure that helped make him the world’s richest man.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of Tesla shareholders that would allow Musk to buy approximately 304 million Tesla shares at a set price ($23.34 per share) if the company meets certain goals. He objected to the stock option package. The judge ultimately ruled that Musk, with the help of obedient board members, effectively oversaw his compensation plan, which was valued at more than $50 billion last month.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas, but last year Tesla said it would move some of its business’ engineering headquarters back to California.
He also said he wants to move Tesla back from Delaware to Texas. However, unlike SpaceX, Tesla is publicly traded, so the move would require shareholder approval.
SpaceX still designs and manufactures spacecraft at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California, near Los Angeles International Airport.
Mr. Musk announced the company’s move to Texas hours before SpaceX launched a robotic lander to carry a NASA payload to the moon. Due to technical issues, the start time was postponed from Wednesday to early Thursday morning.