Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla get far more government money than … – Quartz

This weeks Twitter kerfuffle is all about public funding. Elon Musk decided to label National Public Radios account first as government-influenced media, which it previously applied to state-operated media outlets that shade into propaganda. Later, the label was changed to government-funded media.

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NPR, which maintains that its editorial content is independent and has a history of running stories critical of the US government, decided to leave the platform rather than accept either new label.

While NPR does receive government funding through grants, it says that money represents less than 1% of the nonprofits revenue. In 2022, NPR reported $309 million in revenue; it noted an $80,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, while its member stations may receive government funding that contributes to their license payments.

Critics quickly pointed out that two of Musks most successful companies, SpaceX and Tesla, are also government funded, and indeed receive much more money as a share of revenue and an absolute number.

SpaceX is, after all, primarily a government contractor, racking up $15.3 billion in awarded contracts since 2003, according to US government records. Its most important businesses are launching astronauts and scientific missions for NASA, and flying satellites for the US military.

Musk may quibble that payments for goods and services arent government subsidies but he owes the existence of the company to NASA. If the US space agency hadnt backed the rocket-maker with a critical contract in 2008, the company likely would have failed.

Moreover, SpaceXs business model has been working with NASA to develop space vehicles like the Falcon 9 and Dragon that it can then offer to private customers. These public-private partnerships have saved money for the government while helping to create a surge in private space activity; they arent the result of an entrepreneur acting alone. Meanwhile, SpaceX sought and is still seeking $885 million in government funding to support broadband access in rural communities.

Tesla, on the other hand, has actually benefitted from a number of outright subsidies created by the US government to encourage the development of electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. Notably, the auto company received a $465 million preferential loan from the US Department of Energy in 2010, which it paid off in 2013.

Through 2020, the company benefited significantly from tax credits given to consumers who buy electric cars, which have reduced the cost of Tesla vehicles by $4,000 to $7,500. One attempt to track all these subsidies, including state and local incentives to support manufacturing facilities, estimates the total benefits at nearly $3 billion.

Its strange that Musk is making such a big deal about NPRs government funding, especially when Tesla is working to take advantage of the newest set of EV tax credits passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act by cutting prices and ensuring its batteries are made in the US.

At an earlier point in his political evolution, Musk was oftencriticized by the rightnotably 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romneyfor accepting subsidies at Tesla. SpaceXs rival defense contractors, meanwhile,launched a lobbying campaign criticizing the companys NASA partnerships as a kind of soft corruption. Despite these experiences, Musk has never been shy about suggesting that competitors benefit from overly generous government support (sometimes with good reason.)

Musks critique of NPR seems mostly designed to drive agita and engagement on his social media platform, but we might also consider ita teachable moment. In the modern economy, its rare that any successful enterprise succeeds without government support, whether thats direct funding, basic R&D, or effective regulation.

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Elon Musk's SpaceX and Tesla get far more government money than ... - Quartz