Amidst celebrations of business achievements, Newsom faced a barrage of criticism for overlooking the daily struggles of Californians.

They highlighted ongoing issues with crime, drugs, housing, and the state’s economy, challenging the rosy picture painted by the governor.

His words echo a growing discontent with the state’s economic disparities.

His post on X, formerly Twitter, aimed to highlight economic success but ended up inviting scorn.

It claims to be number one in several areas, including new business startups, venture capital funding, manufacturing, high-tech, and agriculture.

It had a GDP of $3.9 trillion in 2023 and received a growth of 6.1% since 2022. California’s per capita GDP is the second largest of all the large economies.

This is despite the fact that five of the companies that were on the list in previous years dropped off in 2024. However, another nine companies were added to the list, which helped California clinch the top spot.

Over 340,000 people have left California, a trend reflecting dissatisfaction with the state’s living conditions.

With a high cost of living, pricy housing, and high taxes, very little is keeping Californians in their home state and is forcing them to move to other places where they don’t have these issues.

Florida has gained 250,000 residents since 2019, while Texas has gained 174,261 in the same timeframe. California will not reach its pre-pandemic population numbers until at least 2032.

This comment suggests that even businesses may not be as rooted in California as Newsom implies.

This highlights a disconnect between government statistics and resident experiences.

These issues starkly contrast with the image of economic prosperity.

In 2023, California had a homeless population of 180,000, which had risen by 6% in a year. Despite spending $24 billion on these people, the state never tracked how this money was being spent, which has left many feeling angered at the situation.

This is a rec0rd-breaking high. As Californians are now being priced out of their own homes by much wealthier people, they are either having to move elsewhere or risk homelessness.

One commenter asked about the $45 billion deficit and the untracked $24 billion spent on homelessness, questioning the fiscal responsibility of Newsom’s administration.

Randal Nichol criticized, “It’s nice that you are catering to large corporations instead of the little people,” spotlighting a perceived misalignment in priorities.

This call for support of smaller enterprises resonated with many Californians feeling overlooked.

Small businesses, in particular, will suffer, as they may not have the means to pay their employees. This is resulting in job cuts and a rise in prices so businesses can afford to pay the wage increases this way.

This creates questions as to how these bigger businesses can get away with laying off the lower-paid workers and rising prices for customers to fulfil the minimum wage requirements, when the CEO’s of these businesses are being paid much more and still receiving pay rises.

This added a factual dimension to the criticisms levied against Newsom.

However, if you calculate the number of Fortune 500 companies compared to the population of each state, the top three orders are completely different. New York has 2.64 companies per million residents, Texas has 1.73, and California has 1.46.

Tesla and McKesson are two giants that are based in Texas, and New York has been the center for bank and finance companies across the world.

In the last two decades, around 358 major Californian companies have moved out of here and to other states. Texas is now home to most of these, as 145 of them moved to the Lone Star State.