Elon Musk called out Ralph Nader for lying about Tesla. Ralph said: “Elon Musk 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.”
Musk said: “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.
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… https://t.co/fi2GdWER0d
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2023
“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.
A Twitter user who hates Musk said Elon was correct:
“Ralph Nader’s claims simply are not true. Here is a rundown of How Tesla was funded as a company and went on to become the $600B EV Innovator that pushed Green tech into the stratosphere:
Tesla was initially funded by a group of investors, including Elon Musk himself, who provided the company with $7.5 million in 2004.
Musk led another round of funding in 2005 along with Valor Equity Partners
Musk co-led another $40 million round in 2006 along with Technology Partners as well as the Google Founders.
Two more private rounds of funding took place in 2007 and 2008
This funding was used to develop the company’s first electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, which was released in 2008.
In 2009, the company received a $50 million investment from Daimler AG, a German automotive company
It wasn’t until 2010, Tesla received a $465 million LOAN from the US Department of Energy to help fund the development of its Model S sedan. This loan was paid back by 2013.
The Model S became the most successful EV in history and pushed forward the EV revolution as other companies began their own projects.”
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. -R
— Ralph Nader (@RalphNader) February 24, 2023
