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.
How the Government Makes Money?
The government obtains 65% of its tax revenue from individuals.
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html
Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion 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.
Tesla and SolarCity continue to report net losses after a decade in business, but the stocks of both companies have soared on their potential; Musk’s stake in the firms alone is worth about $10 billion. (SpaceX, a private company, does not publicly report financial performance.)
The payoff for the public would come in the form of major pollution reductions, but only if solar panels and electric cars break through as viable mass-market products. For now, both remain niche products for mostly well-heeled customers.
New York state is spending $750 million to build a solar panel factory in Buffalo for SolarCity.
Nevada has agreed to provide Tesla with $1.3 billion in incentives to help build a massive battery factory near Reno.
The Palo Alto company has also collected more than $517 million from competing automakers by selling environmental credits.
“Government support is a theme of all three of these companies, and without it none of them would be around,” said Mark Spiegel, a hedge fund manager for Stanphyl Capital Partners who is shorting Tesla’s stock, a bet that pays off if Tesla shares fall.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Is-Elon-Musk-Just-A-Billionaire-Welfare-King.html
Is Elon Musk just a billionaire welfare king who has benefited hugely from government grants, discounted loans, tax breaks, government incentives and the sale of environmental credits?
Let us have a look at the companies and the amount of subsidies that underlie Elon Musk’s success so far.
Tesla Motors Inc.
Tesla is set to receive an incentive worth $1.3 billion from the state of Nevada in order to build a new battery factory called the ‘gigafactory’ near Reno.
Tesla Motors Inc. even gets large pay checks from its competitors in the form of environmental credits. California has adopted regulations that require car manufacturers to buy environmental credits if they fail to sell enough zero-emission cars. That works to Tesla’s benefit. So far Tesla has raised more than $517 million from rival automakers by selling credits, allowing them to comply with environmental regulations.
In all, Tesla Motors Inc. has received close to $2.391 billion in form of government subsidies.
SolarCity also takes advantage of a variety of government incentives.
So far, SolarCity Corp. has benefited from $2.516 billion in government subsidies.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
SpaceX has received government contracts worth $4.2 billion from NASA and the U.S. Air Force. Apart from this, the company has also received a $20 million subsidy to construct a launch facility in Texas.
The Mother Jones report finds that renewables receive around $7.3 billion per year in subsidies.
Spending $4.9 billion per year in taxpayer money…
SpaceX, a private company, does not publicly report financial performance.
a hedge fund manager for Stanphyl Capital Partners who is shorting Tesla’s stock, a bet that pays off if Tesla shares fall.
http://learnbonds.com/124220/solarcity-corp-scty-crashes-after-claims-its-not-a-solar-company/
SolarCity isn’t in the Solar business
Johnson, taking a contrarian line that has been well worn when it comes to firms run by Elon Musk, says that SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) isn’t even a solar power firm. In his view it’s just a leasing firm, and its success is based on a few things that just may not support it going forward.
I just hope he designs the handles on rockets going to Mars.... just in case.
"The fire engulfed the car and burned Dr Awan beyond recognition - all because the Model S has inaccessible door handles, no other way to open the doors, and an unreasonably dangerous fire risk," the complaint said.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/tesla-dealership-crawley-smoke-explosions-20690481
https://electrek.co/2019/06/01/tesla-fire-supercharger/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVs1fu9apW
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/08/02/fire-at-australian-big-battery/
https://driveteslacanada.ca/model-y/tesla-owner-watches-model-y-catch-fire-in-driveway/
https://www.dsf.my/2016/01/tesla-s-on-fire-at-charging-point/
“On a highway, to figure out how you’re going to get 20,000 gallons is a planning and logistics nightmare,” Buck, the fire chief, said.
https://news.yahoo.com/lithium-ion-battery-fire-cargo-135224787.html
https://twitter.com/globaldiss/status/1770111315589128248?s=52&t=oBsP-rAezyShz93Q0op-Cw
There were 209 ship fires reported during 2022, the highest number in a decade and 17% more than in 2021.
Of that total, 13 occurred on car carriers, but how many involved EVs was not available.
The lithium-ion battery in the all-electric Tesla Model Y experienced “thermal runaway,” which is a chain reaction that causes energy release and leads to uncontrollable increases in temperature.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/business/tesla-elon-musk-troubles.html March 18, 2024, 10:26 a.m. ET
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/14/angela-chao-tesla-accident/72969299007/
The billionaire's frantic final call and the circumstances surrounding her fatal accident have shed light on the challenges faced by emergency responders in such situations and raised questions about the safety of electric vehicles in remote areas.
https://ijr.com/panicked-final-call-made-death-mitch-mcconnells-sister-law/
Compounding those problems was the car’s laminated glass, touted for its safety in accidents, but “nearly impossible to break underwater,” the Journal reported.
The phone call lasted about 8 minutes, Landeau-Keinan told an investigating officer.
…
https://cleantechnica.com/2021/07/30/teslas-ongoing-war-against-door-handles/
Tesla has had a bit of a tortured relationship with door handles.
Some owners are reporting being locked out of their vehicles for more than 15 minutes, despite running the heating on high in an effort to defrost the situation. Others are posting videos of them banging on the door handle to break up the ice.
“I can’t wait all day for this silly car," tweeted Andrea Falcone, a software engineer from Boston, who posted a photo of her ice-covered door handles.
https://media.gannett-cdn.com/29906170001/29906170001_5576211367001_5576213246001.mp4
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/04/25/teslas-elon-musk-big-ideas/100884144/
Oh, and we could all be living in a computer simulation…
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/celebrity-sues-tesla-claims-model-x-drove-itself-180530029.html
There are rare occasions when the tech in Tesla’s cars causes problems though, and a well-known celebrity has filed a lawsuit claiming that his Model X suddenly accelerated on its own while he was parking in his garage, crashing into through a wall and into the man’s home.
A few weeks after the plane’s disappearance, Malaysia Airlines reportedly confirmed that the passenger jet had been carrying lithium-ion batteries in its cargo bay.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-don-lemon-interview-x-ketamine-use-tesla/
Elon Musk defended his prescription for ketamine, saying his usage of the drug helps him alleviate a "negative chemical mind state" that benefits investors in Tesla, the electric car maker he leads as CEO.
https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/ketamine
How is it abused?
Injected, Liquid mixed with liquids, Powder that is snorted mixed in drinks, or smoked.
What is its effects on the body?
Ketamine produces hallucinations. It distorts perceptions of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control. Ketamine may cause unwanted side effects such as: agitation, depression, cognitive difficulties, unconsciousness, and amnesia. Involuntarily rapid eye movement, dilated pupils, salivation, tear secretions, and stiffening of the muscles, possible nausea Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) has been reported several weeks after ketamine use and may include experiencing prolonged visual disturbances.
SpaceX plans to provide wireless internet to every corner of the globe using 5G technology.
To communicate with the satellites in low earth orbit (LEO), plans are underway for complementary ground-based infrastructure which will include hundreds of Earth Base Stations and millions of personal 5G cell antennas (aka User Terminals) mounted on homes.
MUSK AND 5G - DOESN'T TESLA DEAL WITH DIRECTED ENERGY?
Musk’s SpaceX plans to bring wireless internet everywhere using 5G technology.
To communicate with satellites in low earth orbit a complementary ground infrastructure is developed that will include hundreds of ground-based base stations and millions of personal 5G cellular antennas (called user terminals) mounted in homes…
"These are the most advanced antennas in the world, we think," Musk said. "They have to pick up a very quiet signal from your cell phone. Just imagine, that signal has to travel 500 miles, and then be caught by a satellite that's traveling at 17,000 mph. The satellite's got to compensate for the Doppler effect of moving so fast."
https://investorplace.com/2021/08/elon-musks-quiet-acquisition-has-everything-to-do-with-5g/
When SpaceX does something, you know about it.
Earlier this week, however, SpaceX did something very quietly.
When it acquired Swarm Technologies, a small satellite connectivity startup, it didn’t issue a press release. Musk didn’t tweet about it.
Instead, SpaceX pencil pushers filed some paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — and enterprising reporters dug it up.
The IoT is a vibrant, high-speed network of physical objects — “things” — that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose
of exchanging data and “communicating with” other devices, systems, and/or people.
Elon Musk
“…it's going to be very tempting to use AI as a weapon…In fact it will be used as a weapon - so the…on-ramp to serious AI…the danger is going to be more humans using it against each other… 2:51 "...I'm really quite close to - very close to the cutting edge in AI and it scares the hell out of me - it's capable of vastly more than almost anyone knows, and the rate of improvement is exponential...
So, how do you use AI as weapon? Of course using 5G…
https://www.zdnet.com/article/digital-fortress-5g-a-weapon-in-national-defense/
A new generation of warfighting will occur (and be enabled by) low-latency 5G networks.
Combined with 5G's massive bandwidth, super-fast speeds and significantly lower latency, 5G and edge computing can unlock the full potential of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, robotics, immersive reality and automation for the military. Verizon's 5G First Responder Lab works with companies to develop 5G-enabled tools and applications for public safety and military, such as supercharged drones, an AI-powered weapons detection solution and a mobile command center."
https://spectrum.ieee.org/lockheed-martin-5g
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/the-accelerating-development-of-weapons-powered-by-artificial-risk-is-a-risk-to-humanity/ Weapons powered by artificial intelligence need to be regulated | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
Another concern about violations of IHL is underscored by the potential for L.A.W.S. to act of their own accord. An idea that used to seem like fodder for the most imaginative of dystopian fiction is gaining more traction in recent years; Musk and theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking both warned about sentient AIs establishing a takeover and threatening human civilization.
Elon Musk just detailed his ambitious plans for a new brain-computer interface platform. Superathlete Tom Brady revealed his “brain resiliency programme” to increase his athletic edge. Elite US military units are testing brain stimulation headsets to stimulate neuroplasticity and boost mental and physical performance.
And they are not the only ones innovating at the frontier of brain and human enhancement.
Image: The State of the Digital Brain Health Market 2012–2020 (SharpBrains)
3. Mobile, sensing, wearable technologies, coupled with AI, provide a new platform to harness that neuroplasticity
The good news is we are witnessing the coming of age of a very promising brain enhancement toolkit, enabling:
Easier access to meditation and mindfulness practices via apps, bio/neurofeedback
Personalized medicine and increased adherence via gamification and artificial intelligence (AI)
Sensorimotor and physiological improvements via virtual and augmented reality
Non-invasive cognitive enhancement through targeted interventions adaptive in real-time, enabling better learning and consolidation
Image: Market Report on Pervasive Neurotechnology: A Groundbreaking Analysis of 10,000+ Patent Filings Transforming Medicine, Health, Entertainment and Business (SharpBrains)
Last but not least, the World Economic Forum has convened a Global Council on the Future of Human Enhancement. A diverse group of 20+ research and industry leaders, our objective is to find ways to “improve the quality of life and function of individuals across the life course, and make communities more inclusive and cohesive through technological advances related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.
Our priority will be to develop a “framework to evaluate new technologies — to ensure these are ethically acceptable to society, and that ‘human enhancing’ technologies improve not only the individual, but also the broader community well-being.”
Exciting times ahead…assuming we all break silos and help shape appropriate, responsible, human-enhancing innovation.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-lays-out-plans-to-meld-brains-and-computers-1492738741
So why is this guy taking ketamine instead of wiring his brain and plugging into a computer to live in his matrix?
Because it's just BS
Simply put, this is a war, and the 5 G is and will be used against humanity, and Musk is taking an active part in it.
https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9?IR=T
…
http://www.blanka.us/First_Amended_Complaint_SpaceX_Neuralink.pdf
In one of the articles with the title “Elon Musk is making implants to link the brain with a smartphone” author writes following: ‘While the technology could help those with some type of brain injury or trauma, "Gathering data from raw brain activity could put people in great risk, and could be used to influence, manipulate and exploit them," Frederike Kaltheuner of Privacy International told CNN Business. "Who has access to this data? Is this data shared with third parties? People need to be in full control over their data."’ [Michael Scaturro, CNN Business, Thu July 18, 2019] This is what Neuralink team told during the presentation of their BCI project about the workings of the model: "Neural link contains thousands of electrodes. Processor for making all of this work is something called the N1 chip. The N1 chip reads analog brain signals, amplifies them, digitizes them, processes them and then sends it out to a pod device behind the ear… So, these are real raw signals coming from a neural link hooked up to a brain…The neuron pulses will be detected using tiny threads about one-tenth the cross section of a human hair or about the size of a neuron." Here are two type of raw signals in the form of pulsed activity, being recorded in 2016. www.blanka.us/frequencies.mp3 and http://www.blanka.us/visual_pulses.mp3 Threads and wires as found in Plaintiff’s ears and head and depicted on pictures 2, 12, 14, 15. Here is the website on which researcher is presenting activity of different parts of the brain being transferred into sounds [8]. Those sounds are very similar to the sounds – pulses coming from the Plaintiff’s right ear. She recorded sounds – pulses with Easy Voice recorder application by placing it on her right ear. She would first hear on her right ear white noise, then sounds, and then channel would close and she would not hear anything. Sometimes both types of sounds were sent in a sequence as in this recording, when Plaintiff was sitting in the car. http://www.blanka.us/pulses.mp3 Elon Musk mentioned during the presentation that Neuralink wires are ‘read and write’, which means that they are reading neural activity from the brain but at the same time writing to the brain. This read-write capability is used for download (reading of brain’s neural activity) and upload (writing of information to the brain). Facebook and Elon Musk tested ‘Download of Thoughts’ in 2018. In 2019 Regina Dugan and Elon Musk started to work on ‘Upload of Thoughts’ to the Plaintiff’s brain.
Don't forget that Blackrock "owns" a piece of Tesla, too. https://blackrockvanguardwatch.com/ Oh but wait... musk is a good guy, right?! He's on the side of "free speech" and humanity. Silly me.
These are the morons that think they can make humans transhumans. It's laughable yet frightening and sad.
We really need to stop believing in fairytales because believing in fairytales can burn you up alive.
Tesla has been a bust from the beginning for so many reasons.
Does anyone think that ridiculous "Tesla in Space w/ a mannequin" thing was real? It can't be. It defies both rock solid laws of nature and common sense. Musk said himself it looked so fake he couldn't believe anyone bought it. Yet billions did.
Now there is "real video" of the first "Neuralink brain recipient" that is once again so ridiculous it's painful. The video shows a guy in a wheelchair sitting in front of a laptop while his brain "supposedly" moves a cursor around on the laptop screen with the guy's thoughts.
If anyone thinks this is proof of anything they are insane. I had a job where if I had computer issues, I called the IT guys and from hundreds or thousands of miles away they could take over my computer and remotely move my cursor all around the screen performing any task they wanted to perform.
Musk has broadcast this farce everywhere to "prove" how wonderful Neuralink is. "Look! The guy with the Neuralink implant can move his cursor all around the screen with NO HANDS! Just his mind. WOW! It's a miracle." The video proves nothing. Other than people are so gullible they will swallow anything hook, line and sinker.
I wrote this same comment on Twitter under the video of the "Neuralink Miracle" and it was promptly deleted by an unknown "someone".
This is the world. Thank you, OR, for this great article. God Bless.