You should have taken it and got stock, live in Fremont or surrounding area for maybe 3 years and GTFO. Some have gotten lucky and able to leave because of remote work.Shots Fired.
I literally had a job offer at Tesla to be a Commodity Manager - for 7% less then the going rate for a Big 3 CM to live in ****ing Fremont back in 2017. Literal hard ****ing pass.
As far as making money > that's true anywhere. You can network, get into tech and become a multi millionaire living in Moscow like a King if so inclined and capable.
Doesn't change the reality you need to be at the upper 3% of income earners to live a respectable life in Cali compared to just being in the 65-75% anywhere else.
Have a friend that did just that, he was a Ford and BMW tech, went to tesla and got stocks for initial hire, stayed with them for I think 3 years and bounced.