Another California Icon Flees — Public Storage Ditches Golden State For Texas

Another California-founded business is relocating its headquarters out of state, this time to Texas.

Public Storage, a real estate investment trust specializing in self-storage facilities, was founded in 1972 in San Diego County and expanded to operate more than 3,000 facilities across 43 states. In a February statement, the company announced it will move its headquarters from Glendale, California, to Frisco, Texas.

The relocation comes amid a CEO transition and a new strategic overhaul branded as “PS4.0.”

“In addition, Public Storage will relocate its corporate headquarters to North Dallas (Frisco), Texas, benefiting from the depth of talent and innovation in that market, while maintaining a long-term presence in Glendale, California,” their press release states. “Together, this leadership and talent platform positions Public Storage to execute PS4.0 and deliver sustained growth and long-term shareholder value.”

Within the same statement announcing the move, Public Storage named Joe Russell as successor CEO to Tom Boyle, with his effective date set for April 1. The company described its new plan, PS4.0, as a “generational leadership transition and strategic vision designed to accelerate long-term relative total shareholder return.”

While the announcement offered no specific details on why the headquarters is leaving California, Public Storage joins a growing list of major businesses exiting or reducing their presence in the Democrat-led state.

In 2019, pharmaceutical giant McKesson Corp. relocated its San Francisco headquarters to Texas. That same year, Charles Schwab moved its headquarters to the Dallas area. By 2020, the exodus from Silicon Valley accelerated: Oracle, Tesla and Hewlett Packard Enterprise all left California for Texas.

More recently, energy company Chevron relocated to Texas, as did Realtor.com. Notably, In-N-Out, which was also founded in California, left the state for Tennessee, another Republican-led state.

While Public Storage did not specify its reason for leaving, others who have fled the state have cited high taxes, burdensome regulations, high cost of living and doing business, along with other quality of life factors.

Despite the concerns and warnings about major company’s leaving the state, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has pushed back against the claims of a significant business exodus.