Elon Musk is trying to slash US federal spending, but he has received more than $38 billion (€36.2 billion) in aid, funding and government orders over 20 years on behalf of his Tesla car company (nearly $15.7 billion) and his SpaceX aerospace company (around $22.6 billion). This is the amount determined by The Washington Post in a lengthy investigation published on Wednesday, February 26. Two-thirds of these sums have been pledged over the past five years. In 2024 alone, federal and local governments have pledged at least $6.3 billion to the tycoon's firms – a record, according to the American daily.

These subsidies, largely obtained under the presidency of Joe Biden (2021-2025), can be explained by the fact that Musk has invested in two sectors supported by the public authorities: the electric transition of the automobile and, above all, space, since the US wishes to return to the conquest of the Moon.

The origins of his success are well known. In the 2000s, he pursued two projects at the same time: electric cars and space. On several occasions, the company came close to bankruptcy and barely survived. First, Tesla went into near-bankruptcy after the great financial crisis of 2008, which also saw the collapse of the major Detroit automakers. On the brink of collapse, the automaker was rescued successively by Germany's Daimler, the federal government and Toyota. "Daimler invested $50 million in May 2009, which saved us. Without them, it would have been game over. I want to say thank you," Musk reminded his shareholders in 2016.

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