Why Businesses Haven’t Left California – Yet
30th September 2026
California has a strange relationship with business. Its lawmakers seem determined to make doing business more expensive, yet companies continue to operate there. Taxes rise, regulations accumulate, and new compliance requirements are added, but California remains home to some of the most successful companies in the world. That raises a question more interesting than whether California is “business friendly.” Why do businesses continue to stay – and how far can the state push them before they finally decide the benefits of California are no longer worth the cost?