San Francisco, Dec 5 (IANS): Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is planning to leave California and move to Texas that has no state income tax, a move that could save him billions of dollars, the media reported.

According to a report in CNBC, several of Musk's close friends and associates say that "Musk has told them he's planning to move to the Lone Star State".

"Even the people who know him well and are aware of his general plans to move to Texas say they don't know where exactly he stays when he's there and that he tries to keep those details private," the report said on Friday.

In May this year, Musk said he was selling all his houses and listed his California properties too.

Musk was granted 101.3 million options, adjusted after a 5-for-1 stock split, this year.

In the meantime, Tesla's stock has surged 782 per cent in the past year.

"As of October, Musk had earned awards currently worth about $20 billion before taxes, based on Thursday's close, a portion of the potential total," the report said.

Musk last month surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the second-richest person in the world.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index put the Tesla chief executive with a $127.9 billion fortune above Gates at $127.7 billion for the first time.

The 49-year-old entrepreneur has added more than $100 billion to his net worth since January 2020, making him one of the fastest-growing among the world's 500 richest people.

The move to Texas makes sense for him as it has no state income tax while California has the highest tax regime in the country.

Musk frequently visits Texas where Tesla and his startup Boring Company have operations and also a SpaceX facility that began operations in 2003.