• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
PoliticsFinance

Elon Musk has been entrusted with federal cost-cutting. Meanwhile, his businesses have collected a reported $38 billion in government funds—including millions loaned to Tesla when it was struggling 

By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 26, 2025, 1:15 PM ET
Elon Musk speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Feb. 26.
Elon Musk speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Feb. 26.Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.
  • Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX have benefited from government contracts and regulatory credits. Still, he is charged with slashing government spending and jobs, recusing himself when a conflict of interest is present. A reported $465 million loan from the Energy Department to Tesla—that Musk personally fought for—helped him navigate the company through difficult days. 

President Donald Trump entrusted the richest man in the world to cut costs for the federal government after he backed him throughout the election. The online tracker for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims its “total estimated savings are $65 billion, which is a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.”

Recommended Video

But DOGE’s Elon Musk runs a business empire of his own—one that reportedly collected $38 billion in government funding through a collection of government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits that go as far back as 20 years, an analysis by the Washington Post revealed. 

Almost two-thirds of the $38 billion in funds were promised to his businesses in the past five years, the Washington Post reported. Last year alone, $6.3 billion in federal and local funding was devoted to Musk’s companies—the largest amount committed thus far, the publication said. 

Musk is worth $358 billion. He owns and runs several companies such as electric-car maker Tesla; rocket maker SpaceX; social media platform X (which was once Twitter); artificial intelligence company xAI; brain computer interface company Neuralink; and tunneling service the Boring Company. On top of that, he is a special government employee and senior advisor to the president. 

Government contracts to Musk’s SpaceX from NASA and the Department of Defense make up most of the funds, while Tesla has collected $11.4 billion in regulatory credits, per the Washington Post. Interestingly enough, DOGE, the non-Cabinet cost-cutting body of Musk’s, has looked to slash staff, budgets, and contracts at each of the seven agencies his companies have contracts with. Still, it is Musk who will decide when there is a conflict of interest and when he should remove himself. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier said the President claimed that “if Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest with the contracts and the funding that DOGE is overseeing, then Elon will excuse himself from those contracts.”

The total amount of funding for his businesses could be higher, since the outlet only looked at publicly available contracts; defense and intelligence matters were not included. Not to mention, the reporting found other grants and tax credits where the exact amount was omitted. Plus, 52 contracts with seven government agencies from NASA to the Department of Defense are on the hook to potentially pay his companies another $11.8 billion in the next few years, according to the Washington Post.

Contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense helped build SpaceX’s infrastructure, the outlet reported—a NASA spokesperson told the publication that it has invested $15 billion in SpaceX. A $465 million loan from the Energy Department helped Tesla scale to what it is today. “Tesla would not have survived without the loan,” a former Tesla employee familiar with the company’s finances told the Washington Post. “It was a critical loan at a critical time.” Musk was personally involved in securing the loan, two people familiar told the publication; he held daily meetings with Tesla executives to discuss the necessary paperwork and spent hours with a government loan officer. When the loan went through, it was discovered that Tesla was missing a certification to actually qualify, so Musk, around Christmastime, went directly to the corresponding administrator to make it happen. 

Tesla and SpaceX did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment. 

Principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in an email: “President Trump and his entire administration is committed to executing a head to toe assessment of every contract the American people are funding with their taxpayer dollars. Any contracts connected to Elon Musk’s very successful companies will comply with every government ethics rule as it pertains to potential conflicts of interests. The Trump administration will not play favorites in its mission to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief. Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world’s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it. Sign up here.
About the Author
By Alena BotrosFormer staff writer
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Alena Botros is a former reporter at Fortune, where she primarily covered real estate.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Politics

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Politics

ms
PoliticsMedicaid
Some states are starting to crack down on companies that foist their workers onto Medicaid
By Geoff Mulvihill and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
14 minutes ago
ai
North AmericaImmigration
Trump’s $46 billion ‘smart wall’ with Mexico bets on AI and scale
By Rebecca Santana and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
25 minutes ago
Vladimir Putin
EconomyRussia
Russia’s economy is ‘sputtering,’ and Putin’s wartime spending model has pushed the country to an ‘economic, political, and military abyss’
By Tristan BoveJuly 2, 2026
28 minutes ago
i
AsiaIndia
India and Japan just made “economic security” a shared mission
By Sheikh Saaliq and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
29 minutes ago
sk
AISouth Korea
AI “grief videos” turn mourning into a $390 service in South Korea
By Hyung-Jin Kim and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
32 minutes ago
t
North AmericaWhite House
‘It’s a very strong deal. Nobody knows what it is’: Trump completes transformation from Master of the Deal to Great Equivocator
By Will Weissert and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
37 minutes ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Trump got a $78K pension from the Screen Actors Guild in 2025 because he appeared in Home Alone 2 in 1992
Politics
Trump got a $78K pension from the Screen Actors Guild in 2025 because he appeared in Home Alone 2 in 1992
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
Success
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.