While his so-called Department of Government Efficiency is laying waste to the federal government, unelected White House advisor Elon Musk has massively benefited from government contracts propping up his business over more than 20 years.
As the Washington Post reports, Musk and his businesses have collected at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits.
The entrepreneur’s EV maker Tesla and space company SpaceX, in particular, have relied greatly on cash infusions, especially when facing existential crises — a perfect example of how the government spending that Musk is now ripping apart can help innovative businesses thrive.
The investigation paints a dire picture of the current state of the US government. Despite Musk receiving huge amounts of government funds over the last two decades, his DOGE is slashing federal spending and firing thousands of government workers. It’s also laying waste to federal grant programs and other initiatives that could help nascent businesses compete with Musk’s established enterprises.
Put simply, it’s a sign that Musk has no interest in furthering the interest of taxpayers — it’s his own bottom line that matters, and little else, even if it comes directly at the cost of the American people and their social safety net. He got wealthy off the taxes others paid, and now he’s slamming the door in everyone else’s face.
The majority of the $38 billion we know about went from NASA and the Defense Department to SpaceX. Tesla accounts for less than a third, and includes federal and state programs designed to boost EV adoption.
And given the many classified defense and intelligence contracts, the total amount of funds Musk has extracted from the government is likely even higher. According to the WaPo, many grants and reimbursements didn’t include specific amounts of money.
“Not every entrepreneur at this scale has been this dependent on federal money — certainly not Nvidia, not Microsoft, nor Amazon, nor Meta,” Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told the newspaper. “With DOGE, there does seem to be a paradox there. He has been a big beneficiary of national industrial policy, especially Democrat industrial policy, through government funding.”
Musk has also been gutting key government agencies that have investigated his companies in the past, showing a clear willingness to abuse his power to benefit his business interests.
After greatly benefiting from government payouts, Musk has attempted to pull the ladder up behind him, effectively trying to shut out the competition.
“I’m literally saying get rid of all subsidies,” he tweeted in response to former president Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act bill in 2021 — even though subsidies helped Tesla immensely in the past, turning it into one of the most successful EV makers.
“Pretty much every aspect [of Tesla] has benefited from direct government subsidy or financing,” George Washington University professor John Helveston told WaPo. “It’s not a weird phenomenon for Tesla to benefit from this, but it is certainly hypocritical.”
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