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Musk Shutting Down Government Loan Office That Gave Him the Money to Grow Tesla

81 points by rntn 2y ago

janice1999 2y ago
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- deleted 2y ago
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deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
bushbaba 2y ago
FYI musk had a backup funding for Tesla during that time. Google’s co founder offered to buy out the entirety of the company to accelerate waymo. However musk got the loan, and the rest is history. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/21/google-almost-bought-tesla-elon-musk-larry-page https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/21/google-al...
- natch 2y ago
  That's not backup funding; that's turning over control to a shadowy figure who had a different agenda.
- karmakaze 2y ago
  It's history still in the making. Waymo is much closer to general self-driving.
natch 2y ago
[flagged]
xnx 2y ago
About as literal to "pulling up the ladder behind you" as you can get.
- natch 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - ffsm8 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - piva00 2y ago
    Pulling the ladder always has a bad connotation, what are you asking exactly?
  - tzs 2y ago
    This is in response to your comment here [1] rather than the comment above, because the former was flagged to death so can't be responded to directly. > So these haters criticize Elon in his early years for Tesla taking a government loan that they paid back early with interest. And now they criticize him for supposedly cutting the program that they criticize. You are rather confused. They are not criticizing the program or Musk for using it. They think it is a good program. They are criticizing Musk for cutting it because they think it should remain available so that other long shot energy projects can be funded the same way Tesla was funded. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43812131 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43812131
    - natch 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - stefap2 2y ago
        The article does not explicitly criticize Elon Musk for taking government money but highlights a clear contradiction between his businesses’ heavy reliance on at least $38 billion in public funds and his political stance promoting spending cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It presents Musk’s dependence on government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits factually, while subtly pointing out the irony and perceived hypocrisy in his calls to eliminate subsidies after his companies had already benefited massively. The tone remains analytical, focusing on documenting the support rather than issuing a direct moral judgment.
dotty- 2y ago
Really wish people didn't continue to misunderstand the concept of wealth & having cash. First sentence of the article: > Back when Elon Musk had a bank account with merely one billion dollars in it he had to borrow money from the federal government to get his fledgling EV automaker off the ground. In January of 2010 the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office floated Tesla $465 million ... Here is an article in 2010 talking about Musk running low on cash & his divorce causing him financial issues https://venturebeat.com/business/elon-musk-personal-finances/ https://venturebeat.com/business/elon-musk-personal-finances...

81 points by rntn 2y ago

janice1999 2y ago

[flagged]

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

bushbaba 2y ago

FYI musk had a backup funding for Tesla during that time. Google’s co founder offered to buy out the entirety of the company to accelerate waymo. However musk got the loan, and the rest is history. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/21/google-almost-bought-tesla-elon-musk-larry-page https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/21/google-al...

natch 2y ago
That's not backup funding; that's turning over control to a shadowy figure who had a different agenda.
karmakaze 2y ago
It's history still in the making. Waymo is much closer to general self-driving.

natch 2y ago

[flagged]

xnx 2y ago

About as literal to "pulling up the ladder behind you" as you can get.

natch 2y ago
[flagged]
- ffsm8 2y ago
  [flagged]
- piva00 2y ago
  Pulling the ladder always has a bad connotation, what are you asking exactly?
- tzs 2y ago
  This is in response to your comment here [1] rather than the comment above, because the former was flagged to death so can't be responded to directly. > So these haters criticize Elon in his early years for Tesla taking a government loan that they paid back early with interest. And now they criticize him for supposedly cutting the program that they criticize. You are rather confused. They are not criticizing the program or Musk for using it. They think it is a good program. They are criticizing Musk for cutting it because they think it should remain available so that other long shot energy projects can be funded the same way Tesla was funded. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43812131 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43812131
  - natch 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - stefap2 2y ago
      The article does not explicitly criticize Elon Musk for taking government money but highlights a clear contradiction between his businesses’ heavy reliance on at least $38 billion in public funds and his political stance promoting spending cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It presents Musk’s dependence on government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits factually, while subtly pointing out the irony and perceived hypocrisy in his calls to eliminate subsidies after his companies had already benefited massively. The tone remains analytical, focusing on documenting the support rather than issuing a direct moral judgment.

dotty- 2y ago

Really wish people didn't continue to misunderstand the concept of wealth & having cash. First sentence of the article: > Back when Elon Musk had a bank account with merely one billion dollars in it he had to borrow money from the federal government to get his fledgling EV automaker off the ground. In January of 2010 the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office floated Tesla $465 million ... Here is an article in 2010 talking about Musk running low on cash & his divorce causing him financial issues https://venturebeat.com/business/elon-musk-personal-finances/ https://venturebeat.com/business/elon-musk-personal-finances...