Back'You are lying,' says Musk as Ralph Nader claims he took govt grant for Tesla
Elon Musk was responding to a tweet by American activist Ralph Nader, who said that Tesla was started with a US government welfare grant
PremiumElon Musk on Saturday tweeted that funding for Tesla came from his proceeds from Paypal, and from Series A funding in 2004 until Series C in 2007. Musk further said that the company's first government funding came only in 2010 from a loan under the vehicle efficiency lending program.
Elon Musk was responding to a tweet by American activist Ralph Nader, who said that Tesla was started with a US government welfare grant, which was taxpayers' money, which Musk has taken to the 'cleaners for his factories and for Starlink'.
He added that Musk is a 'corporate welfare king masquerading as a capitalist businessman.'
"Musk (@elonmusk) started Tesla with a huge U.S. government welfare grant. He has taken taxpayers to the cleaners for his factories and for Starlink. He is a gigantic corporate welfare king masquerading as a capitalist businessman," tweeted Ralph Nader.
Elon Musk took to Twitter and said almost all funding for Tesla was from his PayPal proceeds in 2207 and in late 2008 he gave his 'last money' he had.
"Ralph Nader, you are lying – shame on you! I personally provided almost all Tesla funding, based on my proceeds from PayPal, from Series A in 2004 until Series C in 2007. In late 2008, I gave Tesla the last money I had. It was that or the company would have died. We closed that funding round at 6pm on Christmas Eve. If we had not closed that round, Tesla would have gone bankrupt 2 days after Christmas. I gave my last money thinking Tesla would probably still die, not thinking that it would be lucrative," he tweeted.
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Musk said that first meaningful government funding Tesla received from government was under vehicle efficiency lending program' and that Tesla paid it back early with interest.
“The first meaningful government funding Tesla received was in Q2 2010 from a loan under the vehicle efficiency lending program. Tesla paid back that loan early with interest. Taxpayers actually made a profit," the tweet added.
Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last year.
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