Elon Musk Now Has a City of His Own in Texas but He’s Not the One Sitting in the Mayor’s Chair

In an unprecedented fusion of tech dominance and municipal governance, Elon Musk has succeeded in transforming a remote patch of coastal Texas into an officially incorporated city—one built almost entirely around the operations of his private space venture, SpaceX. Dubbed Starbase, the new city represents a milestone in Musk’s decades-long effort to fuse corporate ambition with territorial control.

But despite being the mastermind behind the project and arguably its de facto ruler, Elon Musk will not serve as mayor. Instead, that role goes to Bobby Peden, a long-serving SpaceX executive, who now officially holds the title of mayor of Starbase, Texas.

The move to incorporate Starbase as an official Type C municipality came after a decisive election held on Saturday, in which 212 of the 283 eligible voters approved the measure, with only six votes in opposition. As expected, most of these voters were SpaceX employees or individuals with direct ties to the company, further reinforcing the view that Starbase is not so much a public city as it is a privatized enclave governed through Musk’s corporate machinery.

The new municipality spans roughly 1.6 square miles near Boca Chica on the southernmost tip of Texas, an area that was sparsely inhabited until SpaceX began acquiring land there in 2012.

With this vote, Starbase is no longer just a name that Musk tweeted about back in 2021—it is now a legal entity, complete with a governing structure, taxation powers, and municipal authority. The government of Starbase consists of a mayor and two commissioners, all three of whom ran unopposed and are tied directly to SpaceX. Bobby Peden, a Vice President of Texas Test and Launch Operations for SpaceX, assumes the role of mayor, while commissioners Jordan Buss and Jenna Petrzelka—also associated with the company—fill out the rest of the administrative body.

Musk, ever the showman, marked the occasion with a celebratory post on his social platform X, writing, “Starbase, Texas is now a real city!” Yet beneath the triumphalism lies a complex and controversial landscape.

While the new city enables more streamlined operations for SpaceX—particularly around launch schedules and infrastructure—critics warn that it creates an imbalance of power where corporate priorities override public interest.

The Starbase designation provides its leadership with the ability to manage planning, enact local ordinances, and levy property taxes up to 1.5%, as per the Texas Municipal League. But perhaps most consequentially, pending legislation in the Texas statehouse could grant Starbase officials authority to close

Highway 4 and limit access to Boca Chica Beach and Boca Chica State Park during rocket launches. These closures are currently managed by Cameron County, and the proposed shift in control has already sparked tensions with county officials.

Judge Eddie Treviño Jr., the top official in Cameron County, has voiced strong opposition to the legislation, arguing that granting Starbase control over public lands risks eroding access for thousands of Texans who have used Boca Chica Beach for generations. Environmental groups have also raised alarms, warning that the city’s formation consolidates corporate influence in ways that could accelerate environmental degradation in the region.

Boca Chica is home to sensitive wildlife habitats, and concerns about noise pollution, light pollution, and debris from rocket launches have intensified in recent years.

SpaceX’s expansion into Boca Chica hasn’t been without its environmental and legal hurdles. In 2024, the company was fined nearly $150,000 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for unauthorized wastewater disposal.

Though SpaceX downplayed the fines as "disagreements over paperwork," the incident added to growing concerns that the company's footprint is outpacing oversight. Despite these criticisms, SpaceX has continued to assert that it adheres to all environmental laws and regulations.

The rise of Starbase also signals a broader shift in Musk’s strategic alignment. In recent years, the billionaire has increasingly distanced himself from California, where many of his ventures were once headquartered. Citing what he describes as overregulation and political hostility from Democratic lawmakers, Musk has moved key operations—such as the headquarters of X (formerly Twitter) and the Boring Company—to the Austin area. The contrast between the Bastrop developments outside Austin and Starbase in South Texas is stark.

While Bastrop remains a traditional city with decentralized governance, Starbase is essentially a Musk-centric company town, designed for control, efficiency, and vertical integration.

What makes Starbase so unique is not just its legal structure or its ties to one of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs—it is the first time in modern American history that a billionaire has engineered the creation of a city from the ground up, with municipal authority resting squarely in the hands of his employees. While Musk himself may not hold the title of mayor, he holds all the levers of influence, from land ownership and infrastructure to employee loyalty and corporate funding. In essence, Starbase is a city built in his image, run by his lieutenants, and functioning primarily to serve the needs of his aerospace ambitions.

For Musk, the timing couldn’t be more crucial. As SpaceX seeks federal approval to increase its launch cadence from five to twenty-five launches per year from the Texas site, having jurisdictional authority could dramatically ease operational constraints.

The ability to close roads, control access to beaches, and streamline permitting would give SpaceX a significant tactical advantage—especially in a competitive landscape where China, Europe, and private competitors are racing to develop their own reusable heavy-lift rockets.

Yet, the long-term viability of Starbase remains uncertain. While the vote cements its legal status, the political, environmental, and social implications are still unfolding. Residents unaffiliated with SpaceX, albeit a minority, worry about being governed by a corporate boardroom masquerading as a city council.

And with legislative efforts still pending in the Texas Capitol, the jurisdictional battles between Starbase and Cameron County could intensify in the months ahead.

Musk has always positioned himself as a visionary who plays the long game—whether it's electrifying transportation, colonizing Mars, or replacing government inefficiency with algorithmic governance. With Starbase, he now has a sandbox where all those ideas can be tested on a civic scale. It is a place where urban planning, rocket science, and corporate ideology intersect, and where the boundaries between private ambition and public life blur like never before.

As the dust settles on the vote and the signs go up marking the borders of Musk’s newest venture, one thing is clear: Elon Musk doesn’t need to be mayor to run a city. In Starbase, he has achieved something even more potent—power without the title, control without election, and a municipality that serves not the people, but the mission.