April 2nd reports confirm Elon Musk as now officially the largest private employer in Austin, Texas. Tesla manufactures the Model Y electric SUV and the Cybertruck electric pickup in the state. According to Tesla's latest annual compliance report submitted to Travis County's Economic Development Program, last year, the company saw an 86% surge in employee numbers in this rapidly growing area, reaching 22,777, surpassing the supermarket chain H-E-B.
Tesla's giant superfactory in Texas is a pillar of Musk's expanding influence. Additionally, he has built a lithium refinery near Corpus Christi. The new factory locations for Musk's tunneling company Boring and SpaceX, which manufactures Starlink satellites, are situated about 50 kilometers east of Austin in Bastrop. SpaceX owns a large Starship launch site along the Gulf of Mexico at Boca Chica and an engine testing facility on the outskirts of Waco.
Ray Perryman, of a Waco-based economic research firm, estimates that Musk's companies and their associated economic activities generate an annual benefit of $11.1 billion. Perryman notes, "It's rare for one individual to develop such a diverse range of businesses and have a significant impact in multiple areas." "The direct impact of Musk's companies on Texas is comparable to some of the key manufacturing sectors, such as beverages or electrical equipment."
For years, Musk has been an iconic figure in California, known as both a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a Hollywood star, frequently commuting between SpaceX's headquarters near Los Angeles and Tesla's vast operations in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, Musk expressed dissatisfaction with California's work restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Months later, Tesla announced Austin as the location for its second U.S. car factory. By the end of 2020, Musk had also moved to Texas personally.
Musk's rapid expansion in Texas has stirred some discontent. Residents of Boca Chica have complained about the noise and debris from rocket launches. In March this year, Texas agreed to a land swap with SpaceX, giving the company 43 acres (about 17.4 hectares) of land in Boca Chica State Park in exchange for 477 acres (about 193 hectares) of land adjacent to the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. The swap was intended to compensate for SpaceX's launch activities affecting nearby areas by providing ten times the area of land.
Near the SpaceX factory in McGregor, residents have expressed dissatisfaction with the noise from engine testing. In Bastrop, despite Boring Company's current plans to work closely with the city's public utility system, local organizations oppose the company's discharge of tens of thousands of gallons of treated wastewater into the Colorado River.
SpaceX documents reveal that the factory near Brownsville in southern Texas employs over 2000 people; Musk's social media platform X plans to hire 100 people in Austin. Additionally, it is reported that Musk's brain-computer interface company, Neuralink, employs 300 people in Austin.
Tesla disclosed that the lithium refinery near Corpus Christi will eventually employ 162 workers. Economic development officials in Waco say that SpaceX's rocket engine testing site in McGregor employs 600 people. The Austin Chamber of Commerce, Opportunity Austin, states that there are about 100 Boring Company employees and approximately 700 SpaceX employees locally.
Bastrop has become the closest public access point to Musk's enterprise facilities. Near SpaceX and Boring Company, Musk has constructed a steel structure housing the Boring Bodega café and grocery store, the Prufrock bar named after a tunnel boring machine, His & Hers barber shop, and a softball field.
"Everyone is going all out, hoping to catch the upcoming growth opportunities," said Becki Womble, President of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce. The area is set to open two new elementary schools. By 2030, Bastrop's population is expected to grow more than fivefold, reaching 63,000.
The facility near Corpus Christi is currently a large construction site situated on a desolate coastal plain in southern Texas, an area with little industrial development and investment. Sarah Tindall, Senior Vice President of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp., says this $380 million project is one of the biggest investments in the area in five years.
As Musk's business in Texas continues to expand, he spends most of his time in Austin, which has also become a hub for his friends and family. Walter Isaacson's biography revealed Musk's plans to build his own residence on a horse farm he acquired across the Colorado River from the superfactory, although this plan seems to have not been realized. In a phone interview, Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, stated, "For Musk, Austin is set to become the epicenter of his business expansion across the U.S." "It's not just about the Gigafactory; it also involves battery technology and the future development surrounding Tesla's entire supply chain, all of which will converge in Texas."
