Business

It's hard to miss advertisements on billboards and store windows across Texas promoting "legal THC."

Yes, but: The legality of delta-8 THC, which has a slightly different chemical structure from "regular" marijuana, is murky.

Just as it seems every Californian and her brother are moving to Central Texas, a recent study compares the economic policies of California and Texas and how they affect quality of life.

Why it matters: The two most populous states in the country have long epitomized contrasting ideas about government, including policies on taxes, regulation and, more recently, pandemic response.

Last week, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk announced he was moving his company's headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin.

Between the lines: We examined Tesla's recent SEC filings and found that — wait for it — Tesla's management makes a lot of money.

• The CFO, head of Tesla Heavy Trucking and senior VP for energy engineering each earned roughly $46.5 million in 2020.
• Of those, only the head of the truck division currently owns a home in Travis County under his name, per an Axios review of appraisal district records. In December, he purchased the property, valued at $2.4 million, near the Barton Creek resort.
• Oh, and by the way, Musk, who calls himself "Technoking" in company filings, is now the world's richest person, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Michael Dell called his company's plan to spin off VMware "a great thing" for both businesses during the virtual Dell Technologies Summit on Wednesday.

Why it matters: His remarks come six months after Austin-based Dell announced that it's spinning off its ownership stake in VMware, meaning the company will offer VMware shareholders a special cash dividend between $11.5 and $12 billion.

• Dell Technologies owns roughly 81% of VMware, a California-based cloud computing and virtualization software company, through its $67 billion purchase of data storage company EMC in 2016.
• Even after the spinoff, founder and CEO Michael Dell will own about 41% of VMware and remain chairman of both companies, CRN reported in May.

The incisive and easy-to-laugh Austin taco correspondent, podcaster, book publisher and producer Mando Rayo is fond of saying that "tacos taste better when you know their story."

What's happening: Asher caught up with him and his self-described homie and bodyguard Samuel Franco at Southwest Austin's Cruzteca. The unassuming strip mall spot is operated by Tony Galindo, who named the place for his grandfather, the local restaurateur Cruz Galindo.

The number of businesses operating downtown has increased by more than 60 since February, according to the latest biannual report from the Downtown Austin Alliance.

Why it matters: It's a promising sign for an area that was hit hard by business closures during the pandemic. Even after Gov. Greg Abbott outlined which businesses could reopen, many still struggled because of decreased consumer demand and limited pedestrian activity.

Crux Collective, the funding arm of Austin-based Crux Climbing Center, has added gym management tech company Approach to its portfolio.

Driving the news: Approach, which offers a point-of-sale platform, announced Wednesday that it raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Crux Collective.

Some of our city’s highest paid tech professionals are software engineers and technical program managers, according to a new analysis.

Details: Here are the top nine compensation packages for tech workers, which include bonuses and stock: