Atlas Shrugged-ish?

[backsideof45]

California Democrat reacts to Tesla lawsuit, pullout plan over coronavirus rules: ‘F--- Elon Musk’

A California Democrat seemed less than upset Saturday night at the news that entrepreneur Elon Musk planned to pull much of his company Tesla – along with an unspecified number of jobs -- out of the state over coronavirus shutdown rules that have stalled the automaker's operations.

www.foxnews.com

 

[rtB]

No more like greedy commie ish. Musk already sucked his 100s of millions out of commiefornia, now he's going to shop for tax breaks and concessions elsewhere.

 

[E. Bryant]

Musk isn't "going Galt". In fact, quite the opposite; if he stops doing what he's doing for the briefest moment, the whole house of cards that he has built comes crashing down.

SpaceX is funded by the federal government (our tax dollars). Now, that company seems to be doing a decent job of spending that money more effectively than the competition (doesn't take much!), but nonetheless, they cease to exist tomorrow if they can't suck on that teat.

Tesla got a huge shot in the arm with a federal subsidy; it's sustained by fleecing state and local governments in a variety of fashions. Not only does Tesla take advantage of the usual tax breaks for building plants and for R&D investment, but sales of regulatory credits to fellow auto manufacturers account for most of Tesla's free cash flow. The company sold nearly $600 million in credits in 2019.

SolarCity (now part of Tesla) got about a half-billion dollars from the federal government and another $750 million from the state of New York.

Musk became a billionaire on the backs of taxpayers, and it's paper wealth, not the Rockefeller type of real wealth. He's a paper tiger, and if his precious plant doesn't start back up soon, everything that he "owns" evaporates. So, no, he will not be "going Galt". He's just a child throwing a temper tantrum.

 

[pmclaine]

If th shit worked it would be profitable based on consumer consumption.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Don't forget that Elon is pretty much owned by UAE ever since he took their money and "partnership" in his technology.
IF by 2025 he doesn't have every taxi in the UAE switched to electric he gets a bill he will not be able to pay and in doing so ALL his IP rights and assets go to UAE.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[GMZ]

Musk will find somewhere else to leach off of and the Cali politicians will just raise taxes to cover any shortfall.

 

[pmclaine]

Whats with the chick and the boys new name?

 

[E. Bryant]

If th shit worked it would be profitable based on consumer consumption.

In the case of payload transport to low Earth orbit, the "consumer consumption" is basically governments. So I'll give him a pass on that one.

In the case of automobiles, there is a reason that mass-manufacturing startups are extremely rare - regardless of drivetrain technology. It's an overcrowded industry that requires enormous amounts of capital and provides effectively zero return on investment. Toyota and Ferrari are basically the only two companies that make decent profit. So basically the government has to subsidize the industry.

Solar is a mess - China and the US are basically having a subsidy war. I believe that the US taxpayer covers something like 30-40% of the costs of a SolarCity install. And yet that company was still going under before Musk bailed it out.

So, yeah - there is your blueprint for becoming a paper billionaire with no tangible assets. But hey - he did knock up a third-rate musician and gets called "the real-life Tony Stark" by a bunch of media incels, so he's got that going for him.

 

[E. Bryant]

Hi,

Don't forget that Elon is pretty much owned by UAE ever since he took their money and "partnership" in his technology.
IF by 2025 he doesn't have every taxi in the UAE switched to electric he gets a bill he will not be able to pay and in doing so ALL his IP rights and assets go to UAE.

Sincerely,
Theis

That's small potatoes compared to the chunk of Musk's soul that he sold to China to build the Shanghai plant.

 

[Bender]

Musk personifies everything that is wrong with government inserting it self into a capitalistic market.

 

[Rthur]

No more like greedy commie ish. Musk already sucked his 100s of millions out of commiefornia, now he's going to shop for tax breaks and concessions elsewhere.

Word.
I'll add playing "what will you give me to stay" in that game as well.

R

 

[mrdrar]

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is actually doing well quietly on the space front. Also, don't count out Boeing. So, even there he has competition.