It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Elon Musk rips the political class again, saying 'government is inherently not a good steward of capital' even though his companies thrived from government subsidies
Elon Musk, the world's richest person, was named TIME's 2021 person of the year. He said in an interview he does not think the government should be involved in people's assets.
But government subsidies allowed him to grow his wealth through electric vehicles and solar power.
With a net worth of $297 billion, Musk is a vocal opponent of increased taxes on the rich, including government involvement in all of his financial assets. He responded to Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden's "billionaire's tax" proposal — a tax on wealthy people's assets — with a vulgar response to Wdyen's appearance on Twitter. He's remained firm in his stance that the government should stay out of his wealth.
"They're basically saying they want control of the assets," Musk said in a recent interview with TIME. "This does not result in, actually, the good of the people. You want those who are managing capital to be good stewards of capital. And I think the government is inherently not a good steward of capital."
However, government subsidies are largely to thank for the mountains of money Musk holds today. As the founder of electric vehicle company Tesla, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk received a $465 million loan from the Energy Department in 2010 that was paid back in 2013. The government's $7,500 tax credit has also made purchasing Tesla vehicles cheaper for consumers, although that credit phased out for the company last year.
Musk's space program has gotten a boost, as well. NASA selected SpaceX — Musk's aerospace company — in April to work toward landing "commercial" humans on the moon with a contract award value of $2.89 billion.
Despite the early government support Tesla received, Musk has still spoken out against government subsidies, writing in a recent tweet that it "has always been Tesla's view that all subsidies should be eliminated." President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill recently signed into law included $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging infrastructure — something Musk also opposed during a Wall Street Journal summit.
"Do we need support for gas stations? We don't," Musk said. "There's no need for support for a charging network. I would delete it. Delete."
Despite his resistance to government involvement, it has helped Musk grow his fortune, and his stance remains unchanged even as progressive lawmakers continue to slam his wealth and demand he pay his fair share in taxes. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who spearheaded a tax on the ultrawealthy, wrote on Twitter that when someone like Musk "makes it big," they should be held accountable for paying all their taxes.
And in response to a tweet last month from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders demanding the wealthy pay what they owe in taxes, Musk responded: "I keep forgetting that you're still alive."
‘Is this a joke?’: Elon Musk named Time magazine’s Person of the Year
"It’s *TIME* for Elon Musk to pay his fair share in taxes," tweeted Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.
Time magazine has named Tesla CEO Elon Musk as its Person of the Year for 2021, while also calling him a “clown, genius, edgelord, visionary, industrialist and showman”.
Mr Musk, who is also the founder and CEO space exploration company SpaceX, recently passed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person as the rising price of Tesla pushed his net worth to around $300 billion.
He joins Donald Trump (2016),Adolf Hitler (1938) and Joseph Stalin (1939) among the more controversial inclusions to make the front cover.
“For good or for ill”
Time cited the breadth of Mr Musk’s endeavours, from his founding of SpaceX in 2002, to his hand in the creation of the alternative energy company SolarCity in addition to Tesla, the most valuable car company in the world.
The magazine emphasises that its annual acknowledgement is not an award, but rather, “recognition of the person who had the most influence on the events of the year, for good or for ill”.
The magazine also noted the sway Mr Musk holds over an army of loyal followers (and investors) on social media, where he skewers the powerful and also regulators attempting to keep in check an executive that is far from traditional.
Before his 66 million followers on Twitter, he offers outlandish assistance to the world and drives even his own followers and investors mad by roiling markets. SpaceX
Though it only became profitable in recent years, Tesla is far and away the world’s most valuable car company, at one point this year crossing the one trillion dollars market capitalisation threshold.
Detroit heavyweights Ford and General Motors are worth less than 200 billion dollars combined.
Mr Musk said last month that SpaceX will attempt to launch its futuristic, bullet-shaped Starship to orbit in January.
Nasa has contracted with SpaceX to use Starship for delivering astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2025. Mr Musk said he plans to use the reusable ships to eventually land people on Mars.
Time highlighted Mr Musk’s recent admission to his Twitter followers that half his tweets were “made on a porcelain throne”.
In its profile of the provocative CEO, Time went on to chronicle one of those toilet tweet storms in detail before concluding: “This is the man who aspires to save our planet and get us a new one to inhabit.”
Musk was a fan of course.
But a lot of people didn’t seem as chuffed as Musk was…
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