The ongoing X and Elon Musk Transgressions Thread

[troutman]

SpaceX Gets Billions From the Government. It Gives Little to Nothing Back in Taxes.

Elon Musk’s rocket company relies on federal contracts, but years of losses have most likely let it avoid paying federal income taxes, according to internal company documents.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/t...e=articleShare

The documents, reviewed by The Times, provide the first insights into how heavily SpaceX depends on federal contracts. In 2020, they generated about $1.4 billion, or 83.8 percent, of the company’s total revenue that year. The next year, federal contracts brought in about $1.7 billion, or 76 percent, of the total revenue, the documents show.

[Brupal]

Musk was spending some vacation dollars in Bella Bella BC this past weekend

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ella-1.7613113

[Fuzz]

So cool!

[troutman]

Missed a chance to punch him in the face.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by troutman

Missed a chance to punch him in the face.

Hey that's not nice! Better to kick him in the balls in hopes he'll no longer be able reproduce more than he already has.

[Brupal]

It’s not like SpaceX is some charity that gets gifted cash from the government for free. The government puts out contracts for bidding and many companies including SpaceX submit bids and occasionally they are awarded such contracts which require them to deliver as outlined and in exchange they get paid. Of course they rely on government contracts, who else is paying for rockets to go to space? By pioneering the reuse of rockets SpaceX has driven down the cost to launch payloads into space immensely.

NASA awarded the $1.6 billion contract known as Commercial Resupply Services to SpaceX in 2008, just months after the first successful flight of the Falcon 1. The contract called on SpaceX to use its new rocket, the Falcon 9, along with its Dragon capsule to ferry cargo and supplies to the International Space Station over the course of 12 missions. In 2014, SpaceX won another NASA contract worth $2.6 billion to develop and operate vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
Today, SpaceX dominates large parts of the space market from launch to satellites. In 2024, SpaceX conducted a record-breaking 134 orbital launches, more than double the amount of launches done by the next most prolific launch provider, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, according to science and technology consulting firm BryceTech. These 134 launches accounted for 83% of all spacecraft launched last year. According to a July report by Bloomberg, SpaceX was valued at $400 billion.
SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket are the primary means by which NASA launches astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. The company's Starlink satellites have become indispensable for providing internet access to remote areas as well as to U.S. allies during wartime. The company's Starship rocket, though still in testing, is also key to the U.S. plan to return to the moon.#SpaceX is also building a network of spy satellites for the U.S. government called Starshield as part of a $1.8 billion contract. Even competitors including Amazon and OneWeb have launched their satellites on SpaceX rockets.#
"The ecosystem of space is changed by, really it's SpaceX," Garver said. "The lower cost of access to space is doing what we had dreamed of. It is built up a whole community of companies around the world that now have access to space."

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

[bettercallbettman]

So is Musk smarter than everyone on CP?

[troutman]

Copied and pasted from Alberta Tesla Owners Facebook Cult.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by bettercallbettman

So is Musk smarter than everyone on CP?

No he's not. Next question.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by bettercallbettman

So is Musk smarter than everyone on CP?

Probably richer

[Senator Clay Davis]

It's the same "intelligence" as Trump, he's smart enough to know how dumb and culted his followers are, and can exploit that to great lengths.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

It's the same "intelligence" as Trump, he's smart enough to know how dumb and culted his followers are, and can exploit that to great lengths.

He's no genius but likely far more intelligent than Trump and probably a fair bit smarter than the average person. I'm pretty positive there would be several posters on CP with higher IQ's than him. He was extremely driven and at one time very business savvy and opportunistic as smarts won't get you anywhere without drive which is what he had in spades.

[KelVarnsen]

I just think he's a Nazi

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He's no genius but likely far more intelligent than Trump and probably a fair bit smarter than the average person. I'm pretty positive there would be several posters on CP with higher IQ's than him. He was extremely driven and at one time very business savvy and opportunistic as smarts won't get you anywhere without drive which is what he had in spades.

He has a very specific talent in that he can take in a lot of information and parse it down to first principles to tease out potential pathways others don't see, because they are stuck in the weeds up the chain. This can and has been effective for him to solve problems, but it's also a massive blind spot that has led to no shortage of avoidable mistakes, and stupid blanket philosophies like "the best part is no part", which is why low slung Model 3s with awkward door portals don't have grab handles, and emergency door releases that leave people to die horrible fiery deaths.

It's also why he removed all sensors for FSD except vision, because people drive with vision only(not true) so his cars should, too. Unfortunately it means they are now afraid of shadows, and occasionally plow into emergency vehicles as if they didn't exist.

He's demanded Starship be built so light that it shakes itself to pieces, and then explodes.

I also don't believe he is a very good business person. He's basically a fake nerdy Trump. A bully who has stolen and steamrolled himself to where he is today. You can tell this is true because he basically has no allies in the business world, and anyone who has worked with him ####ing hates his guts. He's an #######.

Plus, ya, the Nazi ####.

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Probably richer

[bettercallbettman]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

I just think he's a Nazi

Is this still a thing?

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by bettercallbettman

Is this still a thing?

He’s still a Nazi, yeah.

[bettercallbettman]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

He’s still a Nazi, yeah.

[KelVarnsen]

Are you saying he’s not a Nazi?