{"id":35662,"date":"2025-10-18T16:01:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T16:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/these-14-companies-have-left-california-over-the-years\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T16:01:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T16:01:33","slug":"these-14-companies-have-left-california-over-the-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/these-14-companies-have-left-california-over-the-years\/","title":{"rendered":"These 14 companies have left California over the years"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883e7cb85e81483682eba54?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A California flag flies in front of a building on California Street  in San Francisco\"\/><figcaption>Many of the big companies that have left California had their roots in San Francisco and the Bay Area.<\/p>\n<p>Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Big companies continue to leave California.<\/li>\n<li>Overall, research shows the number of companies leaving is small.<\/li>\n<li>But the departures include some of the nation&#039;s largest companies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Big companies continue to leave California.<\/p>\n<p>Some executives, including Tesla&#039;s Elon Musk and Palantir&#039;s Alex Karp, have made it abundantly clear why they left.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;This is the final straw,&quot; Musk wrote on X in 2024 after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that barred school staff from informing parents of a student&#039;s gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>The number of companies leaving California is small. According to a 2025 report from the Public Policy Institute of California, only 3% of firms in California moved to a different state. However, larger companies are more likely to leave than smaller ones.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of businesses, people, too, have been leaving California at a high rate. US Census data from October 2024 showed nearly 700,000 people left California between 2022 and 2023. Lifestyle and affordability were the main factors for moving elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Company relocations are trending upward. Business Insider compiled some of the biggest names so far.<\/p>\n<p>McKesson Corp.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/57f12f32dd0895922c8b4c2a?format=jpeg\" alt=\"McKesson Corporation\"\/><figcaption>\n<p>Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Pharmaceutical giant McKesson left California in 2019. In terms of public companies, only Apple loomed larger in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n<p>Then-CEO John H. Hammergren said that McKesson was moving its headquarters to Las Colinas, Texas (near Dallas) to &quot;improve efficiency, collaboration and cost-competitiveness, while providing an exceptional work environment for our employees.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>McKesson remains the highest-ranking Fortune 500 company to leave California in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Chevron<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883aa66f748d8c055f64a54?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Chevron&#039;s Houston headquarters\"\/><figcaption>Chevron&#039;s Houston headquarters<\/p>\n<p>Houston Chronicle\/Hearst Newspapers\/Houston Chronicle via Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Oil giant Chevron had deep roots in California, going back to the 1870s when an early predecessor discovered oil north of Los Angeles. That didn&#039;t stop the company from moving to Houston in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back on its move, the energy giant says that California&#039;s leaders have taken steps that made it &quot;unappealing.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;While our relocation has very real benefits to our business, we also believe California policymakers have pursued policies that raise costs and consumer prices, creating a hardship for all Californians, especially those who can least afford it,&quot; Ross Allen, a spokesperson for Chevron, said in a statement to Business Insider. &quot;These policies have also made California investment unappealing compared with opportunities elsewhere in the US and globally.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Tesla<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883b226f748d8c055f64bc8?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Tesla&#039;s Austin headquarters\"\/><figcaption>Tesla&#039;s Austin headquarters<\/p>\n<p>Brandon Bell\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like some of his fellow tech CEOs, Elon Musk grew frustrated with the limitations of the Bay area before Tesla left for Austin in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;There&#039;s a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area,&quot; Musk said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Before the move, Musk had also clashed with officials over keeping Tesla&#039;s Fremont, California, factory open despite COVID-19 orders.<\/p>\n<p>Oracle<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883bb8e85e81483682eb366?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Oracle office in Santa Monica, California\"\/><figcaption>Oracle office in Santa Monica, California<\/p>\n<p>Richard Vogel\/AP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2020, Oracle left its longtime home in California. The computer technology giant isn&#039;t done moving yet.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, CEO Larry Ellison said the computer technology giant would move its headquarters from Austin, where it had been for less than half a decade, to Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Nashville is a fabulous place to live,&quot; Ellison said, according to an Associated Press report. &quot;It&#039;s a great place to raise a family. It&#039;s got a unique and vibrant culture &#8230;. It&#039;s the center of the industry we&#039;re most concerned about, which is the health care industry.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>CBRE<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883bc8b85e81483682eb397?format=jpeg\" alt=\"CBRE&#039;s logo\"\/><figcaption>CBRE&#039;s logo<\/p>\n<p>Illustration by Thomas Fuller\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Global real estate company CBRE monitors the number of companies leaving California. The firm itself left Los Angeles in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Designating Dallas as CBRE&#039;s global corporate headquarters formalizes how our company has been operating for the past eight years,&quot; Lew Horne, head of operations in the Southwest, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Schwab<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883c2d3f748d8c055f64ee5?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Charles Schwab&#039;s former San Francisco headquarters\"\/><figcaption>Charles Schwab&#039;s former San Francisco headquarters<\/p>\n<p>Justin Sullivan\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Charles Schwab left for Westlake, Texas, in 2019 after it agreed to buy Omaha-based TD Ameritrade.<\/p>\n<p>Schwab chairman and founder Charles Schwab singled out the business climate in California as motivation for the move: &quot;The costs of doing business here are so much higher than some other place&quot; he told Forbes.<\/p>\n<p>The companies said in a joint statement that their new home would &quot;allow the combined firm to take advantage of the central location of the new Schwab campus.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, SFGate reported that Schwab further reduced its presence in San Francisco, its former home.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We&#039;ve had an extremely positive experience in Texas,&quot; a spokesperson from Schwab said in a statement to BI. &quot;From day one, the energy, innovation, and welcoming spirit of North Texas has far exceeded our expectations.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883c4caf748d8c055f64f4a?format=jpeg\" alt=\"HPE CEO Antonio Neri\"\/><figcaption>HPE CEO Antonio Neri<\/p>\n<p>Business Wire\/AP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2020, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced it was leaving California, another COVID-19 era departure.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Houston is also an attractive market for us to recruit and retain talent, and a great place to do business,&quot; CEO Antonio Neri said in a statement announcing the move.<\/p>\n<p>Neri praised HPE&#039;s new home in Spring, Texas (a Houston suburb), but stressed that the company was not leaving Silicon Valley entirely.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Our San Jose campus will remain a hub for technological talent and innovation,&quot; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Palantir<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883a99af748d8c055f64a1f?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Alex Karp\"\/><figcaption>Alex Karp<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Software giant Palantir left Silicon Valley in 2020. Before the tech company moved, CEO Alex Karp said he had concerns about California.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I&#039;m pretty happy outside the monoculture in New Hampshire,&quot; Karp told Axios in May 2020 when asked if he would move back to California as the COVID-19 pandemic was receding.<\/p>\n<p>Karp said at the time that Palantir was narrowing down its list of future homes, which potentially included Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Palantir has been in Denver since August 2020.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/668ae750268f62ba18a7ef6c?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Space X sign in Boca Chica, Texas, in March 2024.\"\/><figcaption>Elon Musk&#039;s SpaceX Starbase is in Boca Chica, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>CHANDAN KHANNA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Elon Musk promised to move SpaceX to Texas in 2024, part of a series of announcements that positioned his companies away from California.<\/p>\n<p>In announcing SpaceX&#039;s relocation, Musk singled out a California law that forbids schools from requiring staff to inform parents of a student&#039;s gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;This is the final straw,&quot; Musk wrote on X in July 2024. &quot;Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Neutrogena<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/68f2748bcc993f9955d068fd?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A Neutrogena booth at the 2007 Kids Choice Awards\"\/><figcaption>Neutrogena<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca Sapp\/WireImage for Mediaplacement<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kenvue, Johnson &amp; Johnson&#039;s spun-off healthcare division, uprooted Neutrogena from California in 2024 as part of a corporate consolidation.<\/p>\n<p>Roughly 100 employees were affected by Kenvue&#039;s decision to shut down Neutrogena&#039;s Los Angeles headquarters, SFGate reported. The well-known cosmetics company had been in California since it was founded in 1930 as a supplier to the stars.<\/p>\n<p>Kenvue said it was relocating Neutrogena&#039;s operations to its then-planned global headquarters in Summit, New Jersey. In March 2025, the company held its grand opening of its new HQ.<\/p>\n<p>Playboy<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/68f271d31c1f80efbec5cc88?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Playboy  CEO Ben Kohn\"\/><figcaption>Playboy  CEO Ben Kohn<\/p>\n<p>Charley Gallay\/Getty Images for Playboy<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hugh Hefner&#039;s bachelor pad is no more. And neither will be Playboy&#039;s home in California.<\/p>\n<p>In August, the iconic men&#039;s lifestyle brand announced that it was moving to Miami. While Hefner&#039;s famous Playboy Mansion was in Los Angeles, the company was headquartered in Chicago from the magazine&#039;s inception in 1953 to 2012. Hefner, who died in 2017, wanted to be closer to Playboy&#039;s operations.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Miami Beach is among the most dynamic and culturally influential cities in the country, making it the ideal home for Playboy&#039;s next chapter,&quot; CEO Ben Kohn said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with Fox News, Kohn said it was too difficult to keep doing business in California.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Given Florida and Miami&#039;s pro-business stance, leaving California, which is anti-business and a very difficult place to do business as an employer, we&#039;re excited to be relocating to Miami Beach,&quot; Kohn told the outlet. &quot;And the city of Miami Beach has been phenomenal and helpful in the move.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Realtor.com<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/68f279311c1f80efbec5cdc3?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A &quot;sold&quot; sign is seen in front of a house\"\/><figcaption>A &quot;sold&quot; sign is seen in front of a house<\/p>\n<p>Matt Rourke\/AP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Relator.com said it was moving its Bay Area headquarters to Austin.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Austin and Texas offer a strong and growing talent pool, a powerhouse economy with unparalleled housing growth, affordability of living only matched by its aspirational lifestyle, expansive tech and academic communities, and a dynamic and vibrant city at the heart of the thriving state of Texas. There is no better place for us to call home,&quot; CEO Damian Eales said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>News Corp. CEO Robert Thompson said the media giant was &quot;proud&quot; of the online real estate company&#039;s home. The conglomerate, which also owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, operates Relator.com through a subsidiary, Move, Inc.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We are proud to be housed in a state which understands the crucial role played by business in providing opportunities for personal growth, professional success, and community achievement,&quot; Thompson said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>AECOM<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6883bcf53d5881a51c1e05b8?format=jpeg\" alt=\"AECOM CEO Troy Rudd\"\/><figcaption>AECOM CEO Troy Rudd<\/p>\n<p>Hannah McKay\/Pool Photo via AP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Global consultancy firm AECOM left Los Angeles in 2021, saying that Texas offered more benefits.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Dallas has emerged as a US hub for corporate headquarters and a compelling corporate talent magnet, particularly among our peers and public companies in the engineering and consulting sectors,&quot; a company spokesperson told The LA Times.<\/p>\n<p>FICO<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/688401c185e81483682ebc6e?format=jpeg\" alt=\"FICO logo on a smartphone screen.\"\/><figcaption>FICO logo on a smartphone screen.<\/p>\n<p>illustration by Cheng Xin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Financial data analytics firm FICO, officially known as the Fair Isaac Corporation, quietly moved to Bozeman, Montana, sometime in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The company, best known for its FICO score, previously moved its corporate headquarters from Minneapolis to San Jose in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>It&#039;s not entirely clear why FICO left California.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many of the big companies that have left California had their roots in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images Big companies continue to leave California. Overall, research shows the number of companies leaving is small. But the departures include some of the nation&#039;s largest companies. Big companies continue to leave California. Some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}