Many of the big companies that have left California had their roots in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Many of the big companies that have left California had their roots in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Many of the big companies that have left California had their roots in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Big companies continue to leave California.

Some executives, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Palantir’s Alex Karp, have made it abundantly clear why they left.

“This is the final straw,” 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’s gender identity.

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.

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.

Company relocations are trending upward. Business Insider compiled some of the biggest names so far.