• Bongles@lemm.ee
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    3 days ago

    Nope. His major companies rely on government funding and regulation, and now he’s going to be whatever it was called for Trump. A cool 44 billion to actually control parts of government?

    • CliveRosfield@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      They’re indirectly in his pocket. And in my view paying 44 billion to control parts of a government in the most powerful country in existence is nothing to scoff at.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      Sort of, but they also benefit from tariffs and lower regulation:

      • Tesla - don’t have to cut prices if your competitors have to raise theirs; also, less regulation on cars means he can get to market faster
      • SpaceX - oversight on rocket launches costs money
      • xAI - slashing regulations on AI helps this new company
      • Neuralink - again, regulations are a major limitation here

      He is also big into cryptocurrencies, so he stands to gain there as well.

      All in all, there’s a good chance he makes his $44B back by having Trump’s ear and being able to encourage certain changes over others.