Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Now Oracle's exiting California for Texas. Will the last one in Silicon Valley, please turn out the lights?

Now Oracle's exiting California for Texas. Will the last one in Silicon Valley, please turn out the lights?

Oracle, part of the S&P 100 with 138,000 employees, was founded 43 years ago in Silicon Valley

If the outbound migration from Silicon Valley to Texas continues at its current clip, we may soon see a sign on southbound Highway 101 “Will the Last One in Silicon Valley, Please Turn Out the Lights?” (although California’s frequent blackouts might render the sign redundant).

Just 11 days after Hewlett Packard Enterprise, part of the firm that created Silicon Valley in 1939, announced it was moving its headquarters from San Jose, California to Houston, Texas, Oracle announced that its headquarters had moved to Austin, Texas from Redwood City, California.

Oracle, part of the S&P 100 with 138,000 employees, was founded 43 years ago in Silicon Valley. It’s not yet known if Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Technical Officer, is moving to Texas.

Of note, Ellison is the second-largest investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Musk announced a personal move out of California to Texas a few days ago. Musk has frequently clashed with California politicians and bureaucrats during the past year over 1COVID1-19 restrictions and stifling governmental overreach, likening the state to a sports franchise that won for so long it has now forgotten what it takes to win.

California’s increasingly burdensome regulatory climate has driven Elon Musk’s Tesla to build a gigafactory in Texas outside of Austin. Within weeks of the announcement, the new plant was under construction.

In California, it would have taken five years just to navigate the environmental lawsuits — most of which are merely used as tools to extract concessions for union labor and other entrenched California special interests.

California has the nation’s highest income tax rate, 13.3 percent, and businesses save, on average, 32 percent of their operating costs by moving from California to Texas.

Some Texans took aim at Gov. Greg Abbott, who announced Oracle’s move on Twitter on Friday, Dec. 11. They’re worried that an influx of more Californians, assumed to be liberal, would turn Texas blue.

Last year, the Census Bureau estimated that about 560,000 people moved into Texas from other states while about 453,000 moved out. About 82,000 of those new Texans arrived from California. The Oracle move will add to a tiny fraction of the annual migration to Texas.

The fact is that thousands of small family businesses move to Texas every year from California, though few of them ever get any notice from the national media. They are mostly run by conservatives fed up with California’s high taxes and crushing regulatory burden.

Polling in Texas consistently shows that new arrivals are more conservative than native-born Texans. At least so far.

Even if Texans actually wanted to turn Californians away, there’s no legal way to do it. That is unless Texas were to adopt the same destructive policies that California has, such as expanding government, raising taxes, and dramatically increasing arbitrary regulatory enforcement.

Ellison himself has given to politicians of both major parties and gave some $4 million to a PAC supporting Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential bid. This year, he hosted a fundraiser for President Trump at his Rancho Mirage estate in California.

A few weeks ago, Joe Lonsdale, another Silicon Valley entrepreneur (Palantir and Addepar) and venture capitalist with a $3.6 billion fund, moved to Austin.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 15, Lonsdale cited, among other issues, a non-responsive government caused by “California’s intolerant far-left” politicians, electric blackouts, and a breakdown in public safety as reasons for his move out of the Golden State.

I couldn’t agree more. After working in California’s aerospace industry for 13 years, then serving six years as a conservative Republican California State Assemblyman until I termed out, I packed up and moved to Texas nine years ago. By the time I left in 2011, most of the aerospace giants for whom I consulted had packed up and left, as well.

California Democrats enjoy two-thirds supermajorities in each legislative house and every statewide elected office.

They own California politics. And they’d rather curse the darkness, the overhead light isn’t working, due to a blackout, following the departure of Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Musk, and Lonsdale than light the candle of reform.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
×