Is South African expat Elon Musk the largest landowner in Texas?

Despite owning more than 500 properties across 6 000 acres valued at $3.4 billion, the South African expat doesn’t even crack Texas’s top ten landowners.

Until recently, the full scope of Elon Musk’s Texas takeover remained unclear. His companies now own more than 500 properties covering approximately 6 000 acres. This expansive network of factories, tunnels, and launch pads spreads from the state’s northern regions to its southern tip.

“He’s going all in on Texas,” Goran Calic, a strategy professor at McMaster University who spent years studying Musk’s management style, told the Houston Chronicle. “And the reason he’s doing it is because of control. Elon Musk has more control in Texas than he does anywhere else.”

How Musk’s Holdings Compare

Whilst 6,000 acres sounds impressive, it pales in comparison to the state’s true land barons. Texas’s largest private landowner is Brad Kelley, who controls over 940 000 acres, more than 150 times Musk’s holdings. Texas Pacific Land Corporation ranks first amongst corporate landowners with over 1 000 square miles, whilst the legendary King Ranch covers 825 000 acres, larger than Rhode Island.

The Austin Empire: Giga Texas and Beyond

The star of Musk’s Lone Star takeover is Giga Texas, Tesla’s 2 500-acre factory complex in Austin. Since opening in 2022, the facility has ballooned to over ten million square feet of production space and could double if plans for another wave of buildings move forward. The factory cranks out Teslas, including Model Ys and the Cybertruck, which are shuttled through tunnels beneath Texas.

About 20 miles east in Bastrop, Musk’s Boring Company has carved out more than 350 acres for testing giant machines and houses staff in a makeshift village called Snailbrook. Across the road sits a massive 700 000-square-foot SpaceX Starlink factory that churns out 70 000 satellite kits weekly, with plans to double in size. Texas Governor Greg Abbott facilitated the expansion with a $17.3 million grant for a $280 million SpaceX project.

Environmental Controversies

The Boring Company’s rapid expansion hasn’t been without issues. In 2023, nearby residents claimed construction was affecting livestock and accused crews of dumping untreated wastewater into the Colorado River. Whilst Boring generally denied the allegations, the company was fined $11,876 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for violations including ineffective erosion controls and discharging industrial stormwater without a permit.

Starbase: Building a Company Town

Near Brownsville, Musk converted scrubland to create Starbase, a de facto company town of 500 residents and thousands of workers. The facility houses Starship, the tallest rocket ever built, and over one million square feet of manufacturing space. Musk is pushing to expand the launchpad further and add housing, retail, and a grocery store.

The Southern Expansion

Even further south near Corpus Christi, Tesla is bringing a lithium refinery to Robstown, designed to supply battery-grade material for one million electric vehicles annually. The empire extends through leased facilities as well, including SpaceX’s rocket testing site in McGregor, southwest of Waco, and Tesla’s planned 1.03 million-square-foot battery manufacturing plant in Brookshire, west of Houston.

The Expat’s Influence Beyond Acreage

The South African expat relocated to Texas in December 2020, attracted by lighter regulations, lower taxes, and a business-friendly environment compared to California. Whilst his strategic approach prioritises operational control over sheer acreage, the answer is clear: Elon Musk is not Texas’s largest landowner, not even close. His 6 000 acres represent less than 1% of what the state’s land barons control. But when it comes to reshaping Texas’s economic landscape through innovation and industry, the billionaire wields influence that extends far beyond property lines.