Elon Musk has shared his latest insights on government subsidies for Tesla and SpaceX, as part of a conversation taking place on X over the last few days.
Vinod Khosla, owner of the firm Khosla Ventures, exchanged posts with Musk on X last week and into Saturday night, in an overall sweeping conversation on illegal immigration, government subsidies, and the 2024 election. On Saturday evening, however, the discussion turned toward Musk’s own companies, when Khosla questioned Musk on whether Tesla “could have survived” without electric vehicle (EV) subsidies, also asking how much money SpaceX receives from the government.
“How much government money does SpaceX get? Could Tesla have survived without EV subsidies?” Khosla wrote. “Unfortunately Twitter doesn’t get government money I guess. Which of these would you rather the government didn’t spend money on and reduce the deficit?”
In response, Musk defended his companies, saying that EV subsidies only make up a small portion of Tesla’s revenue, while SpaceX doesn’t get subsidies at all. In addition, the Tesla CEO pointed the conversation toward oil and gas companies, which he notes are getting massive tax breaks from the federal government.
Read Musk’s full response to Khosla below:
Do some research before you display your utter ignorance. SpaceX gets no subsidies and received half as much as Boeing for astronaut transport, but did 100 percent of the work.
As for Tesla, take a minute to read our public filings and you will see that EV incentives represent a minor part of our revenue. On the other hand, oil & gas companies get massive tax breaks that exceed those given to the EV industry by several orders of magnitude.
Wake up.
Musk’s endorsement of Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. election
The response came as part of talks about 2024 Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, who Khosla claimed “hates immigrants like [him.]” It also comes as the latest of Musk’s conversations on X in support of the former President this year.
The Tesla CEO officially endorsed Trump in this year’s election in July, and he has been increasingly sharing content related to subjects like illegal immigration, the federal budget deficit, and overreach of government agencies over the last several months.
Donald Trump says he will hire Elon Musk for this position, and he’s ‘agreed’
Musk’s other statements on subsidies in the last few years
Musk has also spoken up on government subsidies multiple times in the past, highlighting in a post on X in July that he wouldn’t mind seeing all subsidies go away.
Take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla. Also, remove subsidies from all industries!
Just days later, Musk also added that a “surprising number of people think that Tesla survives on subsidies,” noting that the claim was only true of Tesla’s competitors.
He has also made statements on ending government subsidies as far back as 2021, when the Tesla CEO told the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. should avoid passing President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill, due to the massive government deficit that already exists.
Honestly, I would just can this whole bill. Don’t pass it. That’s my recommendation.
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