Exclusive: Where will Elon Musk move? He says ‘Texas,' sources say ‘Austin’

Elon Musk is looking to lease or purchase property in the Austin area, following his various futuristic companies to the capital of Texas.

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has been touring local property along with representatives on his behalf, confirmed realtor Cord Shiflet, who works for the local brokerage firm Moreland Properties. Looking for a residence within reach of his new Tesla factory, he's been seen in area restaurants and around town.

"Mr. Musk did recently look at a property in Austin," Shiflet said. "It seems a lot of his friends, business associates and even family members have been looking in Austin."

Musk, an automotive, space, AI, neuroscience, tunneling, hyperloop pioneer, first told the Wall Street Journal last week of his personal move to Texas, citing the location of the new Tesla Gigafactory in the Austin area and the launch site of SpaceX in South Texas.

Between the two, it seemed likely that he might choose Austin as tech moguls continue to ditch the Silicon Valley for the Hill Country one after another. Musk also recently moved his private Musk Foundation to Austin.

Rumors buzzed of a potential move for the billionaire when, earlier this year, Musk went head to head with the state of California over Tesla's violations of COVID-19 regulations. It sparked a flame that would lead Musk to tweet he would move his Tesla headquarters to Texas or Nevada.

A few months after the feud, he announced the location of his new Tesla Gigafactory, which is being built in Southeast Travis County. The under-construction $1.1 billion factory will make the new Model Y vehicle and the Cybertruck, along with the battery packs that power the electric vehicles.

While Musk has not made any announcement about moving the Tesla headquarters to Texas, "Giga Texas" is one of the most important projects he has going on, he told the Wall Street Journal.

By coming to Texas, Musk skips out billions he would have to pay in personal income taxes to the state of California.

Aside from the new Tesla Gigafactory he'd be closer to, there's also Neuralink, Musk's "Fitbit in your skull" startup, and the Boring Company, a tunneling business that's a traffic alternative for autonomous vehicles, both of which were hiring in Austin earlier this year.

Musk recently climbed the ranks of the richest people in the world, reaching the number two spot. In Austin, he would join the ranks of eight other billionaires who call Austin home. He'd knock Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, down from being the wealthiest person in the city.

And aside from the billionaires, there are other high-profile tech moguls in the city, including recent transplant Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox. There's also familiar star power, like Joe Rogan, who has hosted Musk on his podcast.