Why Billionaire Elon Musk Is Donating Millions To Brownsville, Texas

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is spending some of his massive wealth on the small Texas city of Brownsville, where his Space X Starbase is located. The purpose of the investment is to persuade important workers to move there.

The Space X founder tweeted his plans for Brownsville on Tuesday after announcing the need for engineers, technicians, builders and other essential personnel at the base. He has pleaded for many to consider a move to Brownsville since thousands of jobs will be created over the next year.

Musk has talked about south Texas since 2014, when Space X broke ground in the region.

“It very well could be the first person to go to another planet could launch from this location,” Musk said at the time. “This is really going to be a new kind of spaceport that is optimized for commercial operations. Cape Canaveral and Cape Vandenberg are great launch sites, but they are military launch sites. … What’s important for the future of space exploration is to have a truly commercial launch site, just as we have commercial airports.”

Musk has even stated that he plans on donating $10 million to the city and an additional $20 million to the Cameron County school system.

Brownsville has a population of roughly 182,000 people. It is located on the Mexican border and about 275 miles south of San Antonio.

Some residents expressed their concerns with Musk's campaign and fear gentrification once plans are set in motion.

Others, meanwhile, are excited about Musk's investment to improve the city's infrastructure.

Musk has not provided many details about his investment. According to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, Musk, 49, is the second richest person in the world, with a net worth of $160 billion. Only Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is worth more than Musk.