Posted on 12/13/2021 8:29:53 AM PST by Enlightened1
Elon Musk named Time Magazine's 2021 Person of the Year, despite SLAMMING VACCINE MANDATES for 'erosion of freedom' and – Calling on Congress to THROW OUT Biden’s ‘Build Back Better Bill’ – “Don’t Pass It”..
https://twitter.com/ChuckCallesto/status/1470398078494642181
No Joe, Jill, Kamala, Pelosi?! They’re all somethings of the year.
bookmark
Glad to see they didn’t pick “one of their own” for once!
Bezos was Time man of the year in 99. Amazon stock fell 94% the next 2 years, to $6. It’s kinda recovered since then, $3400.
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html#page=1
Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies
During an event at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, Elon Musk introduces a line of batteries for homes and businesses.
BY JERRY HIRSCH
MAY 30, 2015 8 AM PT
Los Angeles entrepreneur Elon Musk has built a multibillion-dollar fortune running companies that make electric cars, sell solar panels and launch rockets into space.
And he’s built those companies with the help of billions in government subsidies.
Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support, according to data compiled by The Times. The figure underscores a common theme running through his emerging empire: a public-private financing model underpinning long-shot start-ups.
“He definitely goes where there is government money,” said Dan Dolev, an analyst at Jefferies Equity Research. “That’s a great strategy, but the government will cut you off one day.”
The figure compiled by The Times comprises a variety of government incentives, including grants, tax breaks, factory construction, discounted loans and environmental credits that Tesla can sell. It also includes tax credits and rebates to buyers of solar panels and electric cars.
A looming question is whether the companies are moving toward self-sufficiency — as Dolev believes — and whether they can slash development costs before the public largesse ends.
Tesla and SolarCity continue to report net losses after a decade in business, but the stocks of both companies have soared on their potential; Musk’s stake in the firms alone is worth about $10 billion. (SpaceX, a private company, does not publicly report financial performance.)
Musk and his companies’ investors enjoy most of the financial upside of the government support, while taxpayers shoulder the cost.
…
I'll bite
So tell us exactly what government “subsidies” did Musk get for his first 2 companies Zip2 and x.com/Paypal?
Meh.
Tesla doesn’t get any more government subsidies. Musk was recently interviewed, and said that (partially gov’t-owned) GM asked for it and got it for the entire industry, but that Tesla doesn’t get it now.
As for SpaceX, if the gov’t puts things on his rocket ships, they have to pay, just like anyone else. I would hardly call that “government support.”
I agree that big companies do not need government funding (or laws/regulations that crowd out their competitors), and Musk’s companies have definitely benefitted in the past. However, as of recently Musk is sounding much more libertarian (small “l”), stating that the gov’t should be a referee in the marketplace and not a participant, and also stating that the best thing would be to not have the “Build Back Better” legislation - even if it happened to benefit his companies. He specifically was asked about subsidies to build charging stations, and said that it wasn’t needed - “does anyone subsidize your local gas station?” If there’s profit to be made in EVs, he said, then there’ll be profit in providing a place to refuel them.
No, he’s not perfect WRT government involvement...but he’s getting a lot better with time, and is certainly far better than at least 90% of his fellow CEOs (and probably all of those running companies in the Fortune 100).
Liftoff
Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX
By Eric Berger
But before it became one of the most powerful players in the aerospace industry, SpaceX was a fledgling startup, scrambling to develop a single workable rocket before the money ran dry. The engineering challenge was immense; numerous other private companies had failed similar attempts. And even if SpaceX succeeded, they would then have to compete for government contracts with titans such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who had tens of thousands of employees and tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. SpaceX had fewer than 200 employees and the relative pittance of $100 million in the bank.
The guy is as hands on as you can get...hires people who can do the work ..not just people with all kinds of degrees
What a load of utter rubbish!
You'd be better off posting this garbage from the far left LA Times at DU.
Musk is sounding better, but the fact is that this global warming farce is letting the socialists decide who the winners and losers are.
Tesla’s Struggle In China Is A Warning To All Western Companies Addicted to the Size and the Potential of the Chinese Market.
The Federalist 07/08/2021 | Helen Raleigh
https://thefederalist.com/2021/07/09/teslas-struggle-in-china-is-a-warning-to-all-western-companies/
Never Make a Deal with the Devil
Not so long ago, the CCP rolled out a red carpet for Musk. To entice Tesla to China, the Chinese government agreed to let Tesla become the first non-Chinese auto company with a solely owned subsidiary in China.
In contrast, all other foreign carmakers, including Ford and GM, had to take on local Chinese partners and establish joint ventures to do the same. Tesla opened its factory in Shanghai in 2018. The Chinese government further sweetened the pot by offering tax breaks and cheap loans, and making Tesla cars eligible for generous made-in-China subsidies.
During last year’s COVID-19 outbreak, while most parts of China were under government-mandated lockdowns, the Chinese government allowed Tesla China to quickly reopen in February and provided the factory generous support.
Weird Al gave us a video of him dropping his grammy in the trash.
It would be great if Elon gave us a video of him throwing the issue in the trash.
In January 2021, Musk, with a net worth of $185 billion, surpassed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world.
He done pretty good with that measly 5 billion
Elon Musk named Time Magazine's 2021 Person of the Year, despite SLAMMING VACCINE MANDATES for 'erosion of freedom' and – Calling on Congress to THROW OUT Biden’s ‘Build Back Better Bill’ – “Don’t Pass It”.
Despite?
A "relaxed" day at the site as crews prepare for another balls-out week of progress at Giga Texas! South pond has water, but not from rain, and we see some roof action today along with various touch-ups all over the site!Tesla Gigafactory Austin 4K Day 508 - 12/12/21- SUNDAY PREP FOR A CRAZY WEEK TO COME AT GIGA TEXAS! | December 12, 2021 | Jeff Roberts
Nice
Musk would be close to the top of my list too...
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