Tennessee propositioned Paramount Skydance, hoping to tempt it to become the next company to leave California.<\/p>\n
As California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta gathered a coalition of 12 state attorneys general to try to block Paramount\u2019s $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery,<\/a> Tennessee slid into Paramount\u2019s DMs, suggesting it would be better treated in the southern state. <\/p>\n Corporate flight from the Golden State has increased in recent years, with many California-based companies fleeing for lower taxes and more lax business regulations. For the first time this year, California was not the state with the most Fortune 500 companies<\/a>, after Texas dethroned it in June.<\/p>\n California companies packing up their people and headquarters to move to Texas has been a well-traveled road<\/a> for those looking for options. Now Tennessee wants to be in the running as a prime destination as well.<\/p>\n Here is what you need to know about its efforts: <\/p>\n What happened with Paramount?<\/b><\/p>\n In a July 2 letter to Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison, Tennessee Deputy Gov. Stuart McWhorter pitched a relocation of the studio\u2019s Hollywood headquarters to the Volunteer State. In the middle of a brutal legal battle with California regarding the proposed Warner Bros. merger, Tennessee may appear more appealing to Ellison. Paramount relocated its headquarters from New York to Los Angeles in August of last year.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Paramount Skydance writes its next chapter, Tennessee offers a compelling proposition: a state where creativity and technology converge, where talent is developed intentionally, and where innovation is embraced,\u201d said McWhorter in the letter viewed by The Times. \u201cWe would welcome the opportunity to share our vision for how Tennessee could help shape the future of Paramount Skydance and its talented team.\u201d<\/p>\n Though many in Hollywood have giggled at the idea of a major studio moving to the South, it isn\u2019t totally ridiculous. <\/p>\n Ellison has backing from his father, tech billionaire and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. Oracle, once a California-based company, is now moving its headquarters to Nashville<\/a>. <\/p>\n In December of 2020, the software tech company left California,<\/a> where it was founded in 1977, to relocate to Texas. In April 2024, it chose Nashville as the home for Oracle\u2019s \u201cworld headquarters,\u201d which began construction in February. <\/p>\n Have other companies moved to Tennessee?<\/b><\/p>\n Oracle isn\u2019t the first company to set up in Tennessee. Nissan, which had operated its U.S. headquarters out of Gardena since 1960, left the state in 2005 for Franklin. Nissan chose Tennessee for its drastically lower operational costs. <\/p>\n Mitsubishi Motors also moved its headquarters to Franklin from Cypress in 2019. Mitsubishi moved for lower operational costs and to be in a state with less-strict business regulations than California\u2018s. <\/p>\n Two beloved California burger chains moved to Tennessee. <\/p>\n In 2018, CKE, the parent company of Los Angeles-founded Carl\u2019s Jr., <\/a>also left California for Tennessee. CKE consolidated Carl\u2019s Jr. and its St. Louis chain, Hardee\u2019s, under its headquarters in Franklin. <\/p>\n