“An oversubsidized guy.” Mocked by Macron in front of European industrialists, Musk quickly hit back
The French president meets with several businessmen, including Elon Musk, during the 6th edition of the 'Choose France' summit at the Palace of Versailles near Paris on May 15, 2023. PHOTO: Eliot Blondet / Pool / Bestimage / Profimedia
Emmanuel Macron invoked on Wednesday, to defend European public investments in the industrial field, the American billionaire Elon Musk, whom he said was “a guy oversubsidized” by the American federal state for his Starlink satellite communications system, the irony of the French president quickly attracting the reply of the richest man in the world, writes AFP.
In front of an audience of European industrialists in Antwerp, Belgium, the leader from the Élysée Palace developed his plea for a “European preference” and for massive investment in the sectors of the future, which he believes should be financed mainly by common loans of the European Union.
“If we look at the United States, there is a lot of private money,” “but there is also a lot of public money,” especially in the field of energy or space, the French president said.
“Everyone is fascinated by Starlink,” “but if we're being clear, Mr. Musk is probably one of the people in the world who has collected the most billions of dollars from American taxpayers,” he said.
“Elon Musk is, above all, a guy oversubsidized” by the federal state, the French leader added.
“The good news is that this has made it extremely innovative. And it has become competitive because of this American approach,” insisted Emmanuel Macron, pointing out that Europeans must also follow such a path so that they can face the “race” with the United States or China.
Elon Musk was quick to respond to the French president, through a message published on the social network X, owned by the billionaire. Musk said that the most subsidized by the state are his “competitors”, “especially from Europe”.
“If you add up all the public funding Tesla and SpaceX have ever received, it's only about 1 percent of the combined value of those companies,” Musk said, referring to the electric car and space companies he founded.
“In contrast, if you do the same with the main American and European aerospace companies, the public money they received exceeds 100% of their value!”, the owner of X, Tesla, Starlink and SpaceX companies also stated.
