Musk Boosts Headcount by 86% at Biggest Site of His Texas Empire

Elon Musk is now officially Austin’s largest private employer.

Tesla Inc. boosted headcount 86% last year to 22,777 in the fast-growing region in Texas, where the carmaker churns out Model Y SUVs and angular Cybertrucks. It surpassed grocery-store chain H-E-B, according to a new annual compliance report Tesla filed with Travis County’s economic development program.

Tesla’s massive Gigafactory Texas is the anchor of Musk’s ever-growing presence in the state: He’s building a lithium refinery near Corpus Christi. Bastrop, about 30 miles east of Austin, is home to operations for Boring Co. and a new SpaceX factory for Starlink satellites. SpaceX ...