By Carol Lucas
For starters Elon Musk is touted as the world’s wealthiest man, quite a distinction. I have to believe that if I had $100 for every time his name has been uttered, in vain or in fame, since the recent election, I might be considered one of the top 100 wealthiest … at least in South Carolina.
His name and his face are everywhere, and from my perspective, he seems to have overshadowed even the Donald.
When I began the tedious task of researching Musk, I found so much information that I felt I was in a quagmire from which I might not emerge. Yes, there were certain commonalities in all that I found, but there were a considerable number of contradictions as well.
So, as is often said, “Let’s begin at the beginning.”
Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, June of 1971. His father was a South African engineer, and his mother was a Canadian model and nutritionist. After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived primarily with his father. He would later dub his father “a terrible human being … almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done.”
Please keep that description in mind as you continue to read.
He describes himself as being bullied in high school, sometimes being beaten. Musk goes on to say that when he got home, “things there were just as awful.” From all I was able to discern, Musk saw himself as the target of many.
At one point, I was going to refer to Musk as “the poor little rich boy.” However, several sources say that Musk did not grow up in a rich household but one that was middle class. Furthermore his father did not own an emerald mine, contrary to many stories.
At 17, Elon moved to Canada, and he enrolled in Queen’s University. He would later obtain Canadian citizenship through his mother. Apparently the citizenship question wasn’t then (nor is it now) an inflammatory issue in Canada. Take note, No. 47.
After two years at Queen’s University, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics and a second bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School.
When he was 24, he moved to California to pursue a Ph.D. at Stanford, but left the program after two days.
It is apparent that Musk is intelligent, and he turned that intelligence into remarkable business acumen in the field of technology. That said, what he has chosen to do now poses a greater threat to our country than has been seen in decades. Combined with a lack of scruples, that impact does not bode well.
Rather than being satisfied with achieving the status of a very successful entrepreneur, Musk saw his chance to catapult himself into politics. Donald Trump’s lack of sufficient finances to build a successful campaign, and Musk’s bottomless pit of money created the perfect marriage, so to speak. Money is king, and Musk threw in the crown by contributing in excess of $277 million.
What I will postulate is this: when you lay out that kind of money to get a man elected to the highest political position in this country, it’s pretty safe to assume it isn’t out of the goodness of your heart. You have bought yourself something, and the extent of that purchase remains to be seen in its totality. I am quick to note that many see Elon Musk as embedded right alongside No. 47 in the current tsunami of decisions, many of which are illegal.
I might add that this co-decision maker is a “naturalized immigrant,” but then I digress, dear reader. (You knew it was coming somewhere in here.)
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out just how this assumption of coziness with the president benefits Musk’s pocketbook.
Musk and the federal government are already deeply intertwined: His companies Tesla and SpaceX account for at least $15.4 billion in government contracts over the past decade and span multiple agencies.
It’s worthwhile to ask just how much of his world-leading net worth comes from U.S. government help over the last 10 to 15 years. The answer is not simple.
By some measures, little of his wealth is thanks to taxpayers. Musk is worth an estimated $326 billion, according to Bloomberg’s real-time billionaire tracker. His companies have received “only” tens of billions from government contracts and programs.
But in other ways, virtually all of his net worth can be pinned to government help. Tesla and SpaceX got started – and survived their early days — with assistance from state and federal policies, government contracts and loans.
“The foundation for Musk’s financial success has been the U.S. government,” said Daniel Ives, tech analyst for Wedbush Securities. (according to CNN) That begs the question: should Elon Musk have any job with the U.S. government?
During his May 8, 2021, appearance on the TV show “Saturday Night Live,” Musk revealed that he has Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. “I’m actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL. Or at least the first to admit it,” he said.
How does the neuro-development condition manifest itself? “I don’t always have a lot of intonation or variation in how I speak, which I’m told makes for great comedy,” Musk explained.
Musk, I humbly suggest that your place in government is not, in any way, humorous, and the sooner you remove yourself, the better. I am being kind.
Perhaps Steve Schmidt said it best when he wrote “… of course, there’s Elon Musk. Just when we thought this country couldn’t possibly be any more of a dystopian hellscape, Trump handed him the reins to something called the Department of Government Efficiency — which sounds like something straight out of a rejected 1984 fanfic. Now, the man who ruined Twitter has read-only access to Treasury data, which, according to the government, is totally fine and not at all a reason to panic. Never mind that the guy can’t run a website without accidentally locking himself out of his own account — now he’s poking around the U.S. financial system like a bored raccoon in a dumpster.”
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
