California still has the largest state economy no question about that, but that's not the same thing as saying its leadership is producing the best economic results today. A better measure is growth, business formation, population trends and whether companies are choosing to move in or out. In the last few years, California has lost headquarters such as Chevron, Tesla, SpaceX, X, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Charles Schwab and others to states like Texas. Meanwhile, Texas and Florida continue to gain residents, businesses and investment. California's economy remains massive because of decades of accumulated wealth, technology, ports, agriculture and entertainment industries. But when major employers and residents are increasingly choosing other states, that's a sign that economic momentum may be shifting even if total GDP remains larger.
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