The Great Delaware Escape, Or

Elon Musk’s Revenge

If there is one sending shivers down the spines of men in top hats and polished boots, it is the prospect of losing a dollar they believe to be rightfully theirs. And if there is one man who has made it his business to see that Delaware’s coffers grow a little lighter, it is that most peculiar and irascible billionaire, Mr. Elon Musk.

Yesterday, the good people at Aerovate Therapeutics, Inc., decided they had paid quite enough for the privilege of calling Delaware home and made arrangements to pack their corporate valises for a journey westward—to the promised land of Nevada. In a filing so thick with legalese that one could mistake it for a lawyer’s lullaby, they declared their intent to swap the oppressive clutches of the Delaware franchise tax for the warm embrace of Nevada’s business-friendly statutes.

A sensible man might say, “Why, that’s just one company—surely, Delaware will not weep over such a trifling loss?”

But one must remember that Aerovate is only the latest in a growing caravan of corporate emigrants, all heading for the land where state fees are low–and lawsuits are a distant concern. And what should be the common thread binding these weary travelers? None other than the specter of Mr. Musk himself, who, upon having his affairs trifled with by the Delaware Chancery Court, declared with all the certainty of a frontier prophet that he would see the state suffer for its insolence.

Indeed, Aerovate’s so-called “Redomestication Proposal” is neither red nor domestic—it’s an act of corporate secession, a rebellion against the tyranny of Delaware taxation. And what a rebellion it is!

By the very count of their legal scribes, they have called this act of defection “redomestication” no fewer than 174 times while mentioning the actual mechanism—conversion—a mere 31 times, as though hesitant to call the thing by its proper name. The reasons for this westward march are as predictable as a banker’s appetite for interest.

Aerovate’s board believes that Nevada’s laws will afford them greater protections from lawsuits and that its tax policies will keep more gold in their pockets. And, as any seasoned observer might note, they are not alone in these sentiments.

It remains unknown whether the halls of Delaware will soon echo with the sound of retreating footfalls or if this exodus is a temporary fit of corporate wanderlust. Remember that when you slight the world’s richest man, you had best prepare for the consequence, and those may well take the shape of an emptying treasury and a sudden affection for the Nevada sun.