Elon Musk pushed back on Sunday against claims that government support was responsible for the rise of SpaceX aka Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), arguing that taxpayer-backed incentives represented only a small fraction of the companies' value.
Musk Rejects Claims Over Government Aid
Musk joined an exchange on X between Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) after Markey argued that Musk's wealth came from "our money" through government aid to Tesla and SpaceX. Markey cited a CNN report asserting that government support helped create much of Musk's fortune.
Musk called the article "totally false" and said that all government incentives his companies received, combined, amounted to less than 2% of the value of SpaceX and Tesla.
"And many of these incentives actually helped our competitors disproportionately to Tesla or SpaceX. For example, when President Trump removed the $7500 tax credit for electric vehicles, Tesla sales actually INCREASED, because more buyers shifted from other EV makers to Tesla," Musk stated.
