Elon Musk's business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding

[Zorro]

Government infusions at key moments helped Tesla and SpaceX flourish, boosting Musk’s wealth

Elon Musk and his cost-cutting U.S. DOGE Service team have been on a mission to trim government largesse. Yet Musk is one of the greatest beneficiaries of the taxpayers’ coffers.

Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person.

The payments stretch back more than 20 years. Shortly after becoming CEO of a cash-strapped Tesla in 2008, Musk fought hard to secure a low-interest loan from the Energy Department, according to two people directly involved with the process, holding daily briefings with company executives about the paperwork and spending hours with a government loan officer.

When Tesla soon after realized it was missing a crucial Environmental Protection Agency certification it needed to qualify for the loan days before Christmas, Musk went straight to the top, urging then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to intervene, according to one of the people. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

https://wapo.st/41uIOJ4

Typical Republican mindset. Take the benefits of government largesse and once successful work to deny similar benefits to others.

[NJCher]

1. I'm delivering an executive order

to dismiss this $38 billion immediately.

Scramble, Mr. Musk.

[dalton99a]

2. The South African parasite is the biggest corporate welfare queen in recent U.S. history

[unblock]

3. All billionaires benefit from the way the government has set up the game for them, but tech more than any

From wwii research efforts, the government greatly advanced our understanding of science and computers.

Then another boom in science and technology from the nasa missions to the moon.

Then the government worked with universities on the early internet (the universities were mostly public and in any event, the government also supplied grant money).

The Al Gore, as vice president, spearheaded the effort to put massive amounts of government data on the web, turning ut from a novelty to something massively useful for businesses and consumers.

Many businesses took all this as a free gift and built commercial empires on top of thus infrastructure, using the knowledge they now had for free.

Never mind the low tax rates, and all the ways the government allows them to avoid taxes.

Then they act like the government is evil and trying to "confiscate" what they earned "all by themselves"

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Musk needs the federal government to pay for his businesses

.

Link to tweet