Elon Musk Speaks During A town Hall Event In Green Bay, Wisconsin

Elon Musk’s tantrum over President Donald Trump’s budget bill that adds trillions of dollars to the federal deficit raises the possibility that the intemperate billionaire is once again courting new risks for his companies, especially Tesla. The spat comes as the carmaker is expected to post a big drop in electric vehicle sales tomorrow. Meanwhile, it will soon lose federal incentives for EV sales and charging services, and its proposed robotaxi business may hinge on whatever federal regulations the Trump administration cooks up.

“The Trump administration knows how important AVs are to Musk and Tesla’s future, so doing what it can to slow down the robotaxi rollout would be especially painful,” said Loren McDonald, chief analyst for Paren, an electric vehicle industry data company. “The other impact of course is on contracts between the US government and SpaceX, which could now be very much at risk.”

Musk’s companies have sucked in at least $30 billion of public support since 2010

Given how reliant Tesla and SpaceX have been on federal support for the past 15 years, he has much to lose. Forbes estimates Musk’s companies have sucked in at least $30 billion of public support since 2010, including lucrative rocket launch and satellite contracts for SpaceX, a low-cost federal loan for Tesla’s first factory and billions of dollars of free money it generates selling federal and California pollution credits.

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and........

© Forbes