Elon Musk's growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies

[kpitcher]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...531-story.html

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."

[ProIndividual]

Crony capitalism...it' so sad. I like some of what he does, but do it without the government help, without tax funds.

[CaptUSA]

Crony capitalism...it' so sad. I like some of what he does, but do it without the government help, without tax funds.

Ugh. He's fighting the cronyists! Sure, he's playing the game as it is structured, but if you're against cronyism, then Musk is your man. The "subsidies" received by his companies are a drop in the bucket compared to what is received by his competitors. Not to mention that his competitors have set up laws in several states to keep his business out.

Listen: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102723117

You have to scratch a little deeper to see what is going on.

[I<3Liberty]

I agree with CaptUSA.

From Elon Musk's Wikipedia page:
"Musk has stated that he does not believe the U.S. government should provide subsidies to environmentally friendly companies, as was done with Tesla Motors and SolarCity, but the government should instead use a carbon tax to discourage "bad behaviour". Musk argues that the free market would achieve the "best solution", and that producing environmentally unfriendly vehicles should come with its own consequences."

[Brian4Liberty]

I agree with CaptUSA.

From Elon Musk's Wikipedia page:
"Musk has stated that he does not believe the U.S. government should provide subsidies to environmentally friendly companies, as was done with Tesla Motors and SolarCity, but the government should instead use a carbon tax to discourage "bad behaviour". Musk argues that the free market would achieve the "best solution", and that producing environmentally unfriendly vehicles should come with its own consequences."

Carbon tax? Oh boy, he likes the climate change scam...

[euphemia]

Ugh. He's fighting the cronyists! Sure, he's playing the game as it is structured, but if you're against cronyism, then Musk is your man. The "subsidies" received by his companies are a drop in the bucket compared to what is received by his competitors. Not to mention that his competitors have set up laws in several states to keep his business out.

So he receives subsidies, but not so much as the other guys and that makes it okay? When does that start getting paid back?

[CaptUSA]

So he receives subsidies, but not so much as the other guys and that makes it okay? When does that start getting paid back?

No, I'm not saying it's OK; I'm saying context matters. If you call out Musk for taking subsidies, then to be consistent, you should be calling out his competitors at least ten times as strongly.

I don't agree with him on a suggestion that we need a carbon tax - I think simply removing the subsidies would make him more competitive. But then, removing trillions of dollars worth of subsidies ain't gonna be easy.

Like I said, if you're really against cronyism, then you should appreciate what Musk is trying to do to them.

[euphemia]

Trillions of dollars in subsidies could be removed very soon if Congress and the President can't agree and we go into sequestration.

[oyarde]

Junk and scams .

[RonPaulIsGreat]

So, is every other large corp in the US. We don't have a free market.

[Ronin Truth]

The system is there to be abused.

[oyarde]

The system is there to be abused.

And some junk and scams are greater than others .