Voters Head to the Polls as Elon Musk Pushes to Build a Company Town in Texas
The concept of the “company town” might seem like a relic of the past—an echo of an era when powerful industrialists owned not only the factories but also the homes, stores, and services used by their workers. These towns, often criticized for poor living conditions and exploitative labor practices, have mostly disappeared from the American landscape. But Elon Musk appears keen to revive the idea.
According to a new Wall Street Journal report, SpaceX is attempting to incorporate its own town near the Texas Gulf Coast, in the area surrounding its Starbase facility, which is used for rocket testing and launches. More than 3,400 SpaceX employees and contractors now work around Starbase, and the company has been steadily expanding local infrastructure to support that growing workforce.
In December, Musk’s company filed paperwork to transform Starbase into an official municipality. By February, the Texas county where Starbase is located approved a measure allowing local residents to vote on the proposal. That election is scheduled for Saturday. The proposed town would span multiple properties near a state highway and include about 247 residential lots.
Kathryn Lueders, General Manager of Starbase, has said the incorporation would let the company handle basic civic responsibilities—things like road maintenance, utilities, schooling, and medical services. SpaceX reportedly spends around $1.5 billion annually to maintain operations at Starbase.
A slate of proposed government officials—all current SpaceX employees—has already been identified. Bobby Peden, a SpaceX vice president in charge of Texas operations, is expected to serve as mayor. Two colleagues, Jordan Buss and Jenna Petrzelka, are listed as prospective town commissioners.
Not everyone is on board with Musk’s vision. According to Politico, local activists near Starbase have voiced serious concerns. One organizer said, “It’s the richest man on the planet using us as a testing ground,” and compared Musk’s plans to colonizing a community before heading to Mars.
Musk has shown a growing interest in urban development. In 2023, The Wall Street Journal revealed that he was building a so-called “utopian” town near Austin, Texas, humorously named “Snailbrook.” As of last September, that project featured just a handful of modular homes, along with a gym, playground, and pool. Meanwhile, Musk-aligned tech leaders continue pushing for “Freedom Cities”—privately-run communities built and governed by corporations instead of traditional democratic structures.
In short, there’s a new wave of nostalgia among America’s wealthiest for 19th-century-style capitalism, where workers lived under the shadow of their employers—both on the job and at home. Musk’s latest company town experiment might just be the most ambitious attempt yet to bring that model back.
