California has long boasted of better weather, more job opportunities, and a greater abundance of wealth and leisure activities than the rest of the nation, drawing people in droves. But the Golden State isn’t looking quite so golden these days, as progressive laws and policies are driving both individuals and companies away in search of greener pastures. We’ve seen some evidence of this as moving trucks line up to relocate occupants. Now, the state has taken another body blow to its reputation: Texas now holds the corporate crown as the state with the most Fortune 500 companies.

Texas Usurps California

According to the 2026 Fortune 500 list, California has 56 companies with around $2.7 trillion in revenue, but Texas now has 57 companies worth about $2.8 trillion in revenue. “Texas is the undisputed headquarters of headquarters,” the Lone Star State Governor Greg Abbott posted on his official website. “The world’s leading businesses invest with confidence in Texas because of our welcoming business climate, predictable regulatory environment, and skilled and growing workforce. People and businesses are choosing Texas because Texas works.”

For years, California has had the honor and privilege of holding the top slot, thanks to the tech giants such as Tesla, Oracle, and Chevron. But big companies like these are leaving, and many blame the move on progressive politics, which govern climate and business regulations, taxes, and more. Adding to the already high cost of living, the Golden State has the most business regulatory restrictions in the nation, according to the Free Press.

Business owners are concerned about the proposed Billionaire Tax Act, which, as Fox Business explained, “would target the net worth of roughly 200 residents and impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents with assets exceeding $1 billion.” If the measure is approved by voters in November, residents who were in California as of January 1 this year would owe the tax. “In practical terms, a resident with $20 billion in net worth on that date would owe a one-time tax of $1 billion, payable over five years.”

"Americans are voting with their feet. They want places that are livable. They want places that are workable. They want places that are sustainable and affordable," Texas REALTORS Chair Jennifer Wauhob previously told Fox News Digital. "And so I think this migration, as we call it, is really turning into a long-term shift."

Companies on the Move

Several big-dollar stores have left California. In fact, even the company that tracks companies leaving the Golden State, CBRE, has left. Here’s a brief rundown on some of the others who have packed up and traded The Golden State for The Sunshine State.

Chevron

After residing in the state for 145 years, in August 2024, Chevron announced the move from San Ramon to Houston, Texas.

X and SpaceX

Elon Musk blamed politics as the reason for moving X and SpaceX out of California. At the time, he cited transgender laws banning schools from making rules if a child identifies as transgender, the New York Post explained.

“This is the final straw. 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,” he wrote on X in July 2024.

Charles Schwab

The company made the decision to ditch California in 2019 because of high costs and taxes. The state has some of the highest taxes for businesses in the nation. “The costs of doing business here are so much higher than some other place,” founder and chairman Charles Schwab told Forbes.

Oracle

Oracle left California in 2020 for Texas and has since moved multiple times. CEO Larry Ellison moved to Hawaii in 2020. Recently, he moved his assets out of the Golden State before the proposed billionaire tax could be made law.

Public Storage

The company was founded in 1972 near San Diego, but in February, it announced that it's moving its corporate headquarters to a suburb of Dallas, Texas. Although the company’s CEO suggested the reason was partly that the Lone Star State has a better talent pool to pick from, California’s legislation might also have had something to do with it.

“A new senate bill, effective for agreements beginning at the start of 2026, regulates California’s self-storage industry by requiring disclosures of rent hikes in rental agreements,” The Post reported. “It was initially proposed to place price caps on the state’s self-storage industry.”

Other notable companies that vacated California recently include Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Yamaha, and Neutrogena. Rather than seeing the error of their ways, however, California legislators and regulators are doubling down on their disastrous policies. One question that seems not to have occurred to them is what happens to their high taxes when there’s no one left in the state to pay them.