Gotta Hand it to Him.

Los Angeles entrepreneur Elon Musk has built a multibillion-dollar fortune running companies that make electric cars, sell solar panels and launch rockets into space.
And he's built those companies with the help of billions 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.
"He definitely goes where there is government money," said Dan Dolev, an analyst at Jefferies Equity Research. "That's a great strategy, but the government will cut you off one day."

LA Times, May 30th 2015

And that was 3 years ago! Smile when you see a Tesla, you paid for it.

In my opinion government's investment in private businesses should not be down. Let the free market pick the winners not the government.
What I wanted to point out was the incredible amount of government largess that Musk received. There is an interesting article in "thestreet.com"
What Is Elon Musk's Net Worth? The Story of Tesla's CEO
Elon Musk has a net worth over $19.2 billion, making the Tesla CEO one of the richest men on the planet. Wondering how he acquired his wealth? Read on!
Tony Owusu
Aug 1, 2018 3:53 PM EDT

Musk was worth hundreds of millions of dollars prior to the start up of Tesla , 2004. He is now worth 19.2 BILLION dollars. I would call the a fantastic Return On Investment (ROI). Thank you federal government.

ramage wrote: Thank you federal government.

No, it's Thank You American taxpayers! I just love helping to make millionaires into billionaires, just because that's the kind of guy I am. It would be nice if we all had a say when it came to which private companies we actually wanted to fund. I guess that would be too Democratic.

How could anyone be ignorant enough to think that the subsidies mentioned in the article were in the form of cash payments into Elon Musk's bank account? It boggles the mind.

Brandon wrote: How could anyone be ignorant enough to think that the subsidies mentioned in the article were in the form of cash payments into Elon Musk's bank account? It boggles the mind.

It would boggle your mind if someone actually said that, but nobody did. Do you think Elon Musk makes more money if he sells more cars? Do you think he would sell less cars if taxpayers were not subsidizing a nice chunk of the price? Common sense is your friend.

Rick wrote: It would boggle your mind if someone actually said that, but nobody did.

What you said was that you loved helping make millionaires into billionaires. Of course, you have no idea how much the grants, subsidies, etc. directly contributed to Elon Musk's wealth, but you're on record as saying that it was at least $999 million.

Rick wrote: Do you think Elon Musk makes more money if he sells more cars? Do you think he would sell less cars if taxpayers were not subsidizing a nice chunk of the price? Common sense is your friend.

Do you think Elon Musk EMPLOYS more people if he sells more cars? Common sense is your enemy.

Brandon,
You have a remarkable ability to take a straight forward declarative sentence " I just love helping to make millionaires into billionaires, just because that's the kind of guy I am." and interpret it to mean " but you're on record as saying that it was at least $999 million."
Do you read Tarot cards and/or tea leaves also?

ramage wrote: Brandon,
You have a remarkable ability to take a straight forward declarative sentence " I just love helping to make millionaires into billionaires, just because that's the kind of guy I am." and interpret it to mean " but you're on record as saying that it was at least $999 million."
Do you read Tarot cards and/or tea leaves also?

Do you know what the word billion means?