Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit took place yesterday and Elon Musk was on hand, of course. He granted an interview as part of the Summit and had some very interesting takes on the state of California.
He made a big announcement as well. Musk is now living in Texas, where he has two major projects that are taking up a sizable amount of his time.
Musk was not nearly as apoplectic about the state of California as we are, as he chose to keep his responses diplomatic. He does think that the state is taking their past successes for granted. “Tesla and Space X obviously have massive operations in California,” he assured observers. In fact, he was sure to share a few more facts with the crowd that was on hand.
“In fact, it’s worth noting that Tesla is the last company still manufacturing cars in California. Space X is the last aerospace company still doing significant manufacturing in California,” Musk continued. He was not done there, either. Elon had a lot to say and everyone was very interested to find out more about what he has been up to.
“There used to be over a dozen car plants in California and California used to be the center of aerospace manufacturing. My companies are the last two left…That’s a very important point to make. For myself, yes, I have moved to Texas. We’ve got the Starship development here in south Texas…and then we’ve got the big [Tesla] factory development just outside of Austin,” he continued.
Of course, it did not take long before there were follow up questions about the move. People obviously wanted to know what inspired such a decision from Musk, especially when we are in the midst of a global pandemic.
He couldn’t but to draw a comparison between the states of Texas and California. “California is great. There are a lot of things that are really great about California,” Elon began.
“There is something that happens when…if a team has been winning for too long, they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled and then they don’t win the championship anymore,” he continued.
This an interesting analogy. Perhaps all of his years in California did teach him something after all. “So California’s been winning for a long time and I think they’re taking it for granted a little bit,” he concluded.
From the looks of it, Texas is not about to start taking him for granted anytime soon. “Welcome to Texas, @elonmusk! Looks like you’re already fitting in. @UTAustin looks forward to working with you. Hook ‘em!,” said Jay Hartzell.
Welcome to Texas, @elonmusk! Looks like you’re already fitting in. @UTAustin looks forward to working with you. Hook ‘em! pic.twitter.com/2S4OyatJ5K
— Jay Hartzell (@JCHartzell) December 9, 2020
Ted Cruz was also sure to welcome him to the state on Twitter, praising him for his ability to create jobs.
Welcome to Texas! @elonmusk
Texas loves jobs & we’re very glad to have you as a Texan. https://t.co/VDgTGJIF7Z
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 9, 2020
This is a state that is sure to appreciate anyone who can create jobs for their workers. Musk also took the government to task during the interview. “The reason I think the government is often the worst at responding to the customer, being the people, is that they are a monopoly that can’t go bankrupt…So if you want to complain about the DMV, what the alternative?” he opined.
Musk had the perfect analogy to explain the current state of affairs: candy bars. “How many candy companies are there? Big Candy is consolidated into like three companies or something…So, when’s the last time there was some good candy? What’s the forcing function for a new candy bar? I haven’t seen one in ages,” he said. It’s one of those things you don’t realize is true until you stop to think about it.
If you would like to hear more about what he had to say, please be sure to check out the interview in its entirety. Musk is always a good watch because we know that he is going to tell it like it is. California had better learn to appreciate their job creators before they all follow in Musk’s footsteps.
