• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
TechTesla

Elon Musk got a big ‘yes’ after asking X if he should move Tesla to Texas. He’s now pushing ahead with a shareholder vote

Eleanor Pringle
By
Eleanor Pringle
Eleanor Pringle
Senior Reporter, Economics and Markets
Down Arrow Button Icon
Eleanor Pringle
By
Eleanor Pringle
Eleanor Pringle
Senior Reporter, Economics and Markets
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 1, 2024, 7:00 AM ET
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, wants to move the incorporation of the company to Texas from Delaware.Antonio Masiello—Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Calling all Tesla shareholders: Elon Musk wants to change the business’s state of incorporation to Texas following a public vote.

Recommended Video

Although the EV maker’s physical headquarters is in Austin, the Musk-led company—like many others in the Fortune 500—chose Delaware to incorporate in, courtesy of its attractive legislation.

But after a judge ruled Musk’s 2018 pay package—worth $56 billion—as null and void, the entrepreneur launched a barrage of criticism against the state.

“Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware,” he wrote on X—the social media platform he owns—on Tuesday. He added: “I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters.”

It seems the Tesla CEO now wants to take a piece of his own advice.

In now typical Musk fashion, the entrepreneur asked X users to vote on whether Tesla should stay in Delaware or change its state of incorporation to Texas.

More than 87% of respondents backed Musk on a move to Texas, leading Musk to post in the early hours of Thursday morning: “The public vote is unequivocally in favor of Texas! Tesla will move immediately to hold a shareholder vote to transfer state of incorporation to Texas.”

The public vote is unequivocally in favor of Texas!

Tesla will move immediately to hold a shareholder vote to transfer state of incorporation to Texas. https://t.co/ParwqQvS3d

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2024

The richest man on earth’s recent falling out with the state began after a Tesla investor brought a suit claiming Musk’s $55.8 billion pay package in 2018—approved by the board—was excessive.

This week judge Kathaleen McCormick sided with the claimant, saying the stock options Musk was awarded more than five years ago must be renegotiated.

In a 200-page investigation into the matter McCormick also set out a scathing review of Tesla’s board.

“The testimony from the key witnesses is perhaps as close to an admission of a controlled mindset as a stockholder-plaintiff will ever get,” she wrote.

Will Texas be better for Tesla than Delaware?

While Tesla did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment, Musk has made it clear he wants action to begin promptly.

Yet even Musk’s supporters on X have made it clear shareholders should know what the implications of the move are before voting. “Please make sure Tesla outlines all of the advantages and disadvantages,” a Canada-based support account wrote.

The benefits of incorporating in Delaware are well known, which is why it’s proved so popular.

The state is home to the famed Court of Chancery, set up exclusively to deal with corporate cases, as well as certain tax incentives such as not imposing income tax on businesses that don’t do business in the state, and no share tax for shareholders who don’t live in the state.

Among the big businesses that are incorporated in Delaware, but don’t necessarily have their headquarters in the state, is Google owner Alphabet, Amazon, and banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

But Delaware hasn’t necessarily treated Musk in the way that he may have become accustomed to.

The voiding of his pay packet comes after the same court and judge ruled against him in 2022 when Musk was told he must honor his deal to buy social media platform Twitter for $44 billion.

Texas on the other hand is home to Musk.

It’s the state where he spends a lot of time courtesy of both Tesla and the Boring Company (a Musk-founded freight tunneling company) basing their headquarters in the region.

It’s well known that the man worth $202 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has also made Texas something of a home, courtesy of the nights he spent sleeping on the factory floor of the EV maker.

On top of that, Attorney General Ken Paxton—who was recently impeached on corruption charges but acquitted by the state legislature—has already gone after Musk’s declared enemies. 

Musk has in turn publicly supported Texas in its standoff with the federal government over immigration.

About the Author
Eleanor Pringle
By Eleanor PringleSenior Reporter, Economics and Markets
LinkedIn icon

Eleanor Pringle is an award-winning senior reporter at Fortune covering news, the economy, and personal finance. Eleanor previously worked as a business correspondent and news editor in regional news in the U.K. She completed her journalism training with the Press Association after earning a degree from the University of East Anglia.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

Google logo is displayed on a smartphone in front of the EU Flag.
CybersecurityGoogle
EU strikes Google with $1 billion fine in major crackdown on antitrust regulations even as Trump threatens retaliation
By The Associated Press and Sam McNeilJuly 24, 2026
7 hours ago
AI executives demand OpenAI release more details about how the Hugging Face hack happened
AIOpenAI
AI executives demand OpenAI release more details about how the Hugging Face hack happened
By Emily ForliniJuly 24, 2026
8 hours ago
woman yellow shirt standing in front of ring light
SuccessSocial Media
Influencer marketing isn’t an experiment anymore as companies expand their creator advertising budgets
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 24, 2026
8 hours ago
dario
AIEconomics
Anthropic’s head of economics just explained why we haven’t seen a white-collar bloodbath — yet
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 24, 2026
9 hours ago
jh
AINvidia
Jensen Huang just used his first ever X post to warn the AI industry not to make the mistake that software narrowly avoided in the 1980s
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 24, 2026
9 hours ago
pjm
EnergyData centers
The AI boom’s hidden electricity bill — and why you’re paying it
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 24, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
20 hours ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 24, 2026
17 hours ago
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
AI
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.