Elon Musk
Tesla stores, vehicles and chargers face continued vandalism and protests
Tesla’s stores, vehicles, and chargers have continued to face protests and acts of vandalism in recent weeks, as people have been targeting Elon Musk’s company for his recent work within the newly created government efficiency division under the Trump administration.
Over the weekend, Tesla’s Charging account on X responded to a user who posted a photo of a Supercharger post tagged with the word “Nazi” and a swastika, noting that the company would have the graffiti removed immediately and would press charges for vandalism at any of its chargers.
The user who originally posted the photo at his local Supercharger says he’s located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the event comes as the latest of several protests both over the weekend and vandalism events in the past few weeks.
Below you’ll find a few links to some other relevant pieces, a short roundup of just a few of the recent anti-Tesla protests and vandalism events, and a bit more background on the recent outrage against Musk.
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- Tesla falls out of favor among German businesses over Elon Musk behavior
- Elon Musk defended by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Recent Tesla protests and vandalism: a short roundup
San Francisco, California Tesla store protest
Some people really don’t like @elonmusk right now pic.twitter.com/BGoMqUix8V
— The Kilowatts ?⚡️ (@klwtts) February 22, 2025
D.C. Protestors call for ‘Less Elons and More Luigis,’ say Elon should need ‘100 bodyguards instead of 20’
Protester tells Elon Musk he needs not just 20, but 100 bodyguards.
“I want Elon Musk to be gone. He’s a selfish, greedy bastard who is just sucking the humanity out of the world. And we need less Elons and more Luigis.”pic.twitter.com/Z0iVArjzUa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 24, 2025
Ran into an Elon Musk protest in DC.
They were chanting that Elon Musk is a racist who wants to deport people.
So I asked them: “What would you tell @elonmusk if he were here right now?”
Every Lib demanded Musk get deported “back to Africa!” where he “belongs”
It’s perfect ? pic.twitter.com/txrKVtPzWf
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 24, 2025
Pennsylvania Tesla store protests
In a report on Sunday from The Philadelphia Inquirer, a few protestors can be seen outside the company’s Devon, Pennsylvania store holding signs out to passing vehicles.
A separate video posted on X on Sunday showed what was estimated to be around 100 protestors outside of Tesla’s store in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which you can see below.
? HAPPENING NOW: About 100 protestors are outside of the Tesla Dealership in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Signs read:
“Deport Elon”
“Free Tesla From Elon”
“Time to Get Out of DOGE”Stay tuned for more pic.twitter.com/cSsPAwnDv0
— LOGAN DUBIL ?? (@thelogandubil) February 22, 2025
Salt Lake City, Utah Supercharger graffiti
The aforementioned graffiti in Salt Lake City, Utah, to which Tesla has responded that it aims to press charges against the person who did this. Users also noticed a security camera in the background of the shot, footage from which could potentially be used to identify the vandal.

Credit: @SnazzyLabs/X
Gothenburg, Sweden arson of Tesla vehicles
Two Tesla vehicles were set on fire in Gothenburg last Thursday, and authorities went on to arrest a suspected perpetrator, a 35-year-old, though he was later released. On Friday, two more Teslas had been torched around 8:00 p.m., and all four fires are being investigated in potential connection with each other.
Authorities later arrested and re-released the suspect again, though a fifth Tesla was later also started on fire, and they arrested him and kept him in custody. It’s not clear at the time of writing if authorities have been able to link the suspect to the crimes.
Loveland, Colorado arson and graffiti
In Loveland, Colorado, vandals repeatedly attempted to light the city’s Tesla store on fire in recent weeks, along with tagging X’s over vehicle windows and writing “Nazi cars,” on the location’s front windows.

Credit: crusadrpers0n | Reddit

Credit: CBS Colorado
Why are people targeting Tesla’s stores, vehicles, and chargers?
Last month, at U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk performed what many said appeared to be a Nazi salute, a gesture which multiple high-profile figures, including former Trump senior counselor and media executive Steve Bannon, have repeated in recent weeks. Many wrote the gesture off as an act of excitement and/or trolling, while others around the world have condemned the act.
Some Teslarati readers were also outraged following Musk’s appearance last month at a campaign event for the German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), in which he echoed thoughts on anti-immigration policy, the importance of “taking pride in Germany,” avoiding losing culture to “multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” and adding that there’s “too much of a focus on past guilt.”
Preliminary results show that the AfD lost the election over the weekend, coming in second to CDU/CSU’s Friedrich Merz, but the party also garnered its largest result in history and doubled votes from the previous election, according to leader Alice Weidel.
Other readers have defended Musk’s actions at the inauguration and the appearance at AfD’s campaign event, as well as his recent work under the Trump administration’s government efficiency department.
Musk was also defended by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and others following the salute and appearance, and his recent work for the U.S. government.
Tesla stores are also being protested because of Musk’s recent involvement in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been gutting several federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, and expected plans to target the Department of Education.
DOGE has been hit with several lawsuits over the actions taken in the past few weeks, though it’s not clear if the massive federal cuts will be found lawful. The administration has also demonized judges and the judicial branch generally in recent weeks, with Trump saying in a post on X earlier this month that “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
What are your thoughts? Has your vehicle, local store are charger been targeted by vandalism or protests? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk just put a $1 Trillion revenue number on SpaceX
SpaceX surged 19% on its first trading day as Musk projected $1 trillion revenue by 2030.
Just days after SpaceX stock pushed its market cap past $2 trillion on its first trading session, closing at $160.95, a 19% gain on the $135 IPO price, Elon Musk posted his own revenue projection on X that went well beyond anything Wall Street modeled. “I think SpaceX might be able to reach approximately $1T revenue in 2030,” Musk wrote, then followed up: “And I would be surprised if revenue is not greater than $1T in 2031.” That forecast sits roughly three times above the most bullish institutional estimate on the table.
Morgan Stanley, one of the lead underwriters, projects SpaceX revenue of $160 billion in 2028, $330 billion in 2030, and $3.4 trillion by 2040, with adjusted EBITDA projected to exceed $2.7 trillion at that point. Reaching those numbers from SpaceX’s $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue requires a compound annual growth rate of roughly 42%, which would outpace even Amazon’s fastest growth era. Morgan Stanley’s model places AI infrastructure as the heaviest revenue driver, projecting $190 billion from SpaceX’s AI business alone by 2030. That figure is anchored to xAI’s Grok platform and the Colossus supercomputer following the earlier merger.
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The government revenue pipeline provides a more predictable foundation under those projections. As we have previously reported, SpaceX holds at least $22 billion in cumulative federal contracts across NASA, the Space Force, the NRO, and the Space Development Agency, with 52 active contracts carrying $11.8 billion in remaining value. The NASA Artemis Human Landing System contract alone is valued at $4.04 billion, covering a second crewed lunar landing demonstration targeted for the Artemis IV mission. SpaceX is also a frontrunner for the Golden Dome missile defense shield, and the FAA has approved up to 44 Starship launches from LC-39A in 2026, setting the stage for Starship to become the backbone of both commercial and government heavy lift. Whether Musk’s $1 trillion number proves visionary or simply optimistic, the infrastructure to get there is already being funded.
Elon Musk
SpaceX (SPCX) IPO is live today at $135: Here’s exactly what you need to know
SpaceX priced its historic IPO at $135 per share today, raising a record $75 billion.
SpaceX officially priced its initial public offering at $135 per share, offering 555,555,555 shares of Class A common stock and raising $75 billion in what is the largest IPO in stock market history. Shares are set to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday, June 12, under the ticker symbol SPCX. The previous record holder was Saudi Aramco’s 2019 offering at $29 billion, followed by Alibaba’s $22 billion offering in 2014.
At $135 per share and roughly 555.6 million shares, the implied valuation sits near $1.75 trillion, which would make SpaceX roughly the seventh largest company in the United States, just above Tesla’s current market cap. Regular investors can request shares at the IPO price through Robinhood, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, SoFi, and E*TRADE, though the deal is heavily oversubscribed and most retail allocations will be partial or unfilled. Once trading opens June 12, anyone with a brokerage account can buy SPCX on the open market.
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The valuation is anchored primarily by Starlink. Starlink crossed 10 million subscribers as of February 2026 and is adding 750,000 to 1.5 million new users per month, with the connectivity segment already posting a $1.19 billion profit last quarter. The offering also bundles in xAI following SpaceX’s all-stock merger earlier this year, adding Grok and the Colossus supercomputer to the investment thesis. As Teslarati reported, Starlink ended 2025 with $10 billion in revenue, a figure analysts project could reach $24 billion by end of 2026.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has been vocal in his support. “I think the time is right,” Ives said, adding that the offering expands the Elon Musk ecosystem rather than competing with Tesla. An average 12-month price target of $165 per share represents roughly 22% upside from the IPO price. Not everyone agrees – Motley Fool noted xAI is spending $1 billion per month playing catch-up to OpenAI and Anthropic.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with a single stated purpose. “Elon founded SpaceX with a goal to change humanity, to make us a multi-planet species,” CFO Bret Johnsen said in the company’s retail roadshow video this week. Musk himself has been more direct: “We are building the systems and technologies necessary to provide global connectivity on Earth and beyond, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars.”
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Elon Musk relieves worries about orbital data centers
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently confronted worries about orbital data centers and launching satellites in mass quantities in space, as some voiced concerns about crowding.
Musk’s SpaceX plans to combat the issue of needing data centers by launching them into space instead of taking up valuable real estate on Earth. It has been a major point of SpaceX’s future, including its looming IPO, which could be the largest ever.
In a recent interview filmed at SpaceX’s Starlink terminal factory in Bastrop, Texas, Elon Musk directly addressed concerns that deploying large numbers of AI satellites for orbital data centers could crowd Earth’s orbit. His message was straightforward and reassuring: space is vast beyond human intuition.
“Space is really big,” Musk said. “It’s not like space is gonna get crowded. Space is enormous. If you actually look at it relative to the Earth, the satellites are so tiny you can’t even see them.” He emphasized that even zooming in makes a satellite appear large, but from a planetary perspective, they are minuscule specks.
Elon on concerns that AI satellites will crowd space:
“Space is really big. It’s not like space is gonna get crowded. Space is enormous. If you actually look at it relative to the earth, the satellites are so tiny you can’t even see them.” https://t.co/Mvr7NpL25Q pic.twitter.com/5Fi629Rii7
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 8, 2026
Musk pointed to SpaceX’s real-world experience operating roughly 10,000 Starlink satellites as evidence that large constellations can be managed safely. “We’ve got a pretty good idea of how to operate just really large constellations and do it safely,” he noted. SpaceX remains the only operator with meaningful experience at this scale, giving the company unique insight into tight orbital packing without compromising safety
The discussion highlighted SpaceX’s plans for “AI1” satellites—essentially orbiting racks of AI compute powered by massive solar arrays and cooled via radiative panels in space’s vacuum.
These satellites leverage proven Starlink V3 technology, making them simpler to design than communications satellites. A first-generation unit targets around 150 kW peak power, with a 70-meter wingspan for solar panels and radiators. Laser links will connect them to each other and the Starlink network, delivering low-latency access (on the order of a few milliseconds from low-Earth orbit).
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Musk framed orbital data centers as a practical solution to Earth’s constraints on AI growth. Ground-based facilities face power shortages, water demands for cooling, and grid limitations. In space, constant sunlight (no day-night cycle), vacuum radiative cooling, and abundant solar energy offer clear advantages.
Production will ramp up at an expanded “Gigasat” factory in Bastrop, with solar manufacturing already underway and full AI satellite output expected at reasonable volume by the end of 2027. Starship’s rapid, high-volume launch capability, aiming for multiple flights per hour, will make massive deployment feasible.
Critics sometimes raise risks like space debris or Kessler syndrome, but Musk’s response underscores scale: even a million satellites would represent an imperceptible fraction of available orbital volume when viewed against Earth’s size. SpaceX’s automated collision avoidance and deorbiting designs for Starlink further mitigate concerns.
This vision ties into broader ambitions. Musk sees orbital AI compute as a step toward harnessing more of the Sun’s energy, advancing humanity on the Kardashev scale from a Type 0 civilization toward Type 1 and eventually Type 2. By moving power-hungry data centers off-planet, SpaceX aims to unlock orders-of-magnitude more compute while preserving Earth’s resources.
Musk’s comments should ease public anxiety. With proven operational expertise, incremental engineering, and the immensity of space itself, orbital data centers represent not overcrowding, but smart expansion into the final frontier.