‘Cali is so yesterday,’ Fort Worth mayor tweets to Elon Musk in pitch for Tesla move
California is yesterday and Fort Worth is now, so Elon Musk should move his Tesla headquarters here, Mayor Betsy Price said Tuesday.
Price tweeted at Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur behind the Tesla electric car company in pitching Fort Worth as having more available land than any other major city in Texas. The two tweets appeared to be an attempt to woo Musk to North Texas. Last week he threatened to relocate to Nevada or Texas, citing strict coronavirus rules in California.
“Above all, we’ve got a trailblazing, pioneering spirit and a community unlike any other,” Price said in a follow-up tweet.
The tweets also tagged Hillwood, the Ross Perot Jr. company that manages the AllianceTexas mega development in far north Fort Worth. Alliance Airport and the surrounding area have been pitched as a mobility innovation zone where companies can develop, test and commercialize mobility technology.
She also joked that she’d buy Musk tequila shots after test-driving a Tesla.
Price used #FortWorthNow, the name of a private sector task force she announced last week to reestablish Fort Worth’s economy during and after the coronavirus pandemic.
Few details about the task force were available late last week, but it will be led by Elaine Agather, chairwoman of JP Morgan Chase’s Dallas region, and John Goff, the real estate investor. Price said eliminating the bureaucracy of City Hall would help Fort Worth Now be more nimble in assessing and helping businesses. The group will first determine what businesses need now to survive the coronavirus recession and later pitch the city as a tech and innovation hub prime for corporate relocation.
Telsa and Musk are in a standoff with California over coronavirus prevention mandates that will keep a production facility in the San Francisco Bay-area closed through at least the end of the month. On Saturday, Tesla filed a lawsuit against California authorities after a county health department said a Tesla plant must not reopen, the Guardian reported. Tesla then opened the plant Monday, Musk said in a tweet.
Musk is active on Twitter but did not immediately engage in Price’s thread.
