The Tesla Empire and Government Subsidies: How U.S. Taxpayers Are Funding Musk’s Power Grab

From billions in subsidies to government-granted contracts, U.S. taxpayers are fueling Musk’s ever-expanding influence—one that now poses a growing threat to American democracy.

Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash

The Tesla Empire and Government Subsidies: How U.S. Taxpayers Are Funding Musk’s Power Grab

Elon Musk loves to paint himself as a self-made genius, a free-market visionary who defies government interference. Yet behind the scenes, his empire—Tesla, SpaceX, and even Twitter (now X)—relies heavily on taxpayer money and government contracts. Worse, Musk has positioned himself as a shadow power broker, benefiting directly from the institutions he claims to defy. From billions in subsidies to government-granted contracts, U.S. taxpayers are fueling Musk’s ever-expanding influence—one that now poses a growing threat to American democracy.

Musk’s Empire Thrives on Government Handouts

For all his libertarian posturing, Musk’s fortune has been built on government subsidies and contracts. Tesla received nearly $3 billion in federal and state…