How much of Musk’s wealth comes from government help? Virtually all of it. Elon Musk has many people to thank for becoming the world’s first trillionaire — his companies’ engineers who produced technological breakthroughs, Wall Street investors who were eager to shower him with their dollars despite questionable financials, but most of all, American taxpayers and government policymakers.

“There would not be (Tesla and SpaceX) if it weren’t for the government,” said Ross Gerber, CEO of investment firm Gerber Kawasaki and an early investor in Tesla.

The federal government awarded SpaceX more than US$500 million worth of grants in its early years. And that US$500 million is just a fraction of what Tesla received from government grants, loans, contracts and regulatory policies.

That’s not to say SpaceX’s success and Tesla’s roughly US$1.5 trillion valuation are entirely due to federal spending, but both companies teetered as startups before receiving taxpayer subsidies.
Early money propelled SpaceX

The question of how much Musk’s US$1 trillion net worth comes from the government is not as simple as it sounds. By some measures, only a small portion of his wealth is thanks to taxpayers. His companies have received “only” tens of billions from government contracts and programs.

But it’s not just the dollar amount that matters — it’s when it was received.

SpaceX’s first major windfall was a US$278 million grant from NASA in 2006 to develop the Falcon rocket system and Dragon space capsule. The Space Shuttle program was ending, and the US needed a new way to get astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.

It was the first of more than US$500 million in grants SpaceX would receive, according to data from PitchBook, which tracks the valuation of private companies.

“That was about half of their capital that they raised to that point,” Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a public interest group advocating space flight, said ahead of the SpaceX IPO. “This was a substantial commitment that #NASA provided.”

Newly minted trillionaire #Musk under fire over Belfast riots. Elon Musk, newly crowned the world’s first trillionaire, faced renewed criticism Friday over anti-immigrant riots in Belfast after researchers said violent narratives he amplified on his platform X amassed millions of views.

Clashes broke out in the Northern Irish capital after a brutal knife attack on Monday, with police charging a Sudanese national named Hadi Alodid with attempted murder.

Musk amplified calls for protest across Britain from anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson and wrote to his 240 million followers on X: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change.”

He also boosted anti-immigration posts and messages from Rupert Lowe, leader of the fringe hard-right party Restore Britain, extending his reach to millions of users on the platform.

Researchers from the non-profit tech watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) reported that the trio’s posts about Belfast collectively garnered more than 115 million views across their accounts, with Musk accounting for 55 per cent of the total.

“Musk’s amplification has been instrumental,” contributing 64 million views, CCDH said in a report.

“As the owner of X and its most followed user, Musk has unparalleled power to shape what people see online. With that power comes responsibility for the content and conduct his platform promotes,” said Imran Ahmed, CCDH’s founder and chief executive.

“Yet our research shows that he used the Belfast tragedy to amplify anti-migrant narratives to millions of users, prompting endless calls for violence.

“While communities dealt with the consequences of brutality and disorder, no individual played a bigger role in spreading this content on X than Musk himself,” Ahmed added.

X did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Robinson -- whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon -- was formerly banned from X.

His account was reinstated along several others accused of peddling misinformation or hate speech following Musk’s 2022 acquisition of the platform, previously known as Twitter.

Researchers say that Musk has also expanded Lowe’s reach by amplifying his speeches in recent weeks and posting that only his party can “save Britain.”

CCDH said it also identified an “explosion in calls for violence” in the responses to the trio’s posts about the Belfast unrest, with more than 3,900 comments advocating lynchings and other crimes against immigrants.

The research comes after Britain’s media watchdog Ofcom warned of the increased risk of online platforms being used to “stir up hatred, provoke violence and commit other offences under UK law.”

The findings coincided with a milestone for Musk, who became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday after shares of his other company, SpaceX, soared following its Wall Street trading debut.

The blockbuster initial public offering, the biggest in history, raised more than US$75 billion.

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Laurence Olivier is honoured with a plaque at his London childhood home.

#LONDON — Laurence Olivier, arguably Britain’s greatest ever stage actor, was honoured Wednesday with a blue plaque attached to the central London property where he lived as a child.

Unveiled by Ian McKellen, the plaque at 22 Lupus Street in Pimlico marks the place where Olivier began acting as a child.

“For those of us who were lucky enough to have seen him in the theater, it’s of course quite right that, because he was the leader of our profession for so many years, it’s appropriate that this should be put up,” McKellen told The Associated Press after the unveiling. “Actors go out of fashion very quickly, but I’ve a feeling that this man’s name will never be forgotten, and because of this plaque.”

Olivier lived at the property between the ages of 6 and 11. While there, he reportedly transformed a wooden box and blue curtains into a makeshift stage where he sang, danced, and acted for hours at a time.

Olivier was venerated as a Shakespearean actor, playing many iconic protagonists in London including Hamlet, Henry V, Macbeth and, controversially, Othello. For his role as Hamlet, Olivier won his only Academy Award for best actor in 1949. Other famous screen roles include ones in “Rebecca,” “Wuthering Heights”," “Marathon Man” and “Sleuth.”