CEO of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Brian Armstrong attends a reception at Buckingham Palace, in central London, on November 27, 2023 to mark the conclusion of the Global Investment Summit (GIS). (Photo by Daniel LEAL / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Elon Musk has been pushing hard for companies to exit Delaware and reincorporate elsewhere, following the lead of his companies Tesla and SpaceX. Coinbase became the latest to take the leap, announcing this week that it was moving its state of incorporation to Texas from Delaware.
Despite Musk's proclamation that "Delaware continues to bleed companies," those departing the state make up a distinct minority.
According to the Delaware secretary of state's office, only 28 companies have deincorporated from the state this year. Meanwhile, as of the end of September, 249,214 new entities were formed in Delaware this year, an increase of 14% from the same period in 2025, the data show.
Musk's decision to relocate his companies followed a Delaware Chancery Court ruling that ordered Tesla to rescind the CEO's 2018 pay package, worth about $56 billion in options. Musk has asked the Delaware State Supreme Court to undo that ruling and the matter is now on appeal.
Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, which helped finance Musk's Twitter takeover and funded Coinbase, subsequently urged companies to incorporate outside of Delaware in a scathing critique this summer, arguing that Delaware has too much "legal uncertainty" due to recent judicial decisions. The firm incorporated in Nevada.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Marc Andreessen currently face a lawsuit in Delaware concerning the sale of shares in Coinbase tied to the crypto company's public listing in 2021.