Elon Musk

Known for Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, the Boring Company and being himself, Musk is also a major Texas landowner. He’s relocated all of his companies to Texas from California after years of bemoaning the Golden State’s regulatory environment and pandemic lockdowns.

He and his companies control about 6,000 acres across the Lone Star State. A lot of the land is in South Texas around the SpaceX launch site. The site and surrounding area, known as Starbase, officially became a Cameron County city in May 2025. Starbase, which is about 20 miles east of Brownsville, has a population of about 500, mostly SpaceX employees. Over the summer of 2025, the state legislature passed House Bill 5246, which gives Musk the ability to limit access to local beaches for SpaceX launches. He also owns land in Bastrop, outside of Austin, where facilities for the Boring Company are located. He’s got a hamlet there, too: Snailbrook. It’s an unincorporated company town. 

Musk spearheaded the sell-off of federal buildings during his short-lived stint as the head of DOGE during his bromance with President Donald Trump. That relationship is apparently still complicated. For his latest scuffle, he’s duking it out with Travis County over whether Tesla met requirements outlined in the company’s tax incentive agreement with the county.

— Jess Hardin