Elon Musk's brain implant startup Neuralink called itself a 'small disadvantaged business' to the federal government
Despite being owned by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk's brain implant startup Neuralink identified itself as a 'small disadvantaged business' with the federal government.
While Musk's DOGE was busy purging government diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, his company was claiming a special designation meant for companies that are 'unconditionally and directly' majority-owned by someone belonging to a socially or economically disadvantaged group, MuskWatch first reported. The designation also requires that the owners of such companies be 'economically disadvantaged individuals.'
The company's profile on the Small Business Administration website currently lists Neuralink as a 'Self-Certified Small Disadvantaged Business.'
Neuralink and the Small Business Administration did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment.
The SBA defines 'economically disadvantaged individuals' as 'socially disadvantaged individuals whose ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities as compared to others in the same or similar line of business who are not socially disadvantaged.' Any person with a net worth of more than $850,000, not including their home equity, also does not qualify.
Although as a private company, Neuralink's ownership structure is not publicly available, Musk's $364 billion net worth would clearly disqualify Neuralink from consideration for the SDB designation. In June, Neuralink also announced $650 million in fresh funding that reportedly valued the company at $9 billion, according to Semafor.
The federal government has since 1988 granted contracts to small disadvantaged businesses in an effort to spur job creation and reduce historical inequities. Under the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988, Congress declared 'not less than 5 percent of the total value of all prime contract and subcontract awards for each fiscal year,' be awarded to small disadvantaged businesses.
There is no evidence Neuralink received any disbursements from the federal government under this designation.
Still, the Justice Department has previously sought to prosecute those who claimed false special designations with the government. In 2023, the owner of an investment properties company falsely claimed to be a 'service-disabled veteran owned small business' in SAM, the official website for companies conducting business with the federal government.
The owner, who never served in the military, used the designation to claim two Department of Defense contracts worth more than $1.9 million. He later pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was forced to pay $72,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine, and serve 15 months in prison.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
I'm a Self-Made Millionaire, but I Could Have Been Richer: My 3 Biggest Regrets
Every self-made millionaire has a different story of how they attained their wealth. While there are countless ways to build up your bank account, each approach requires focus, goals, commitment, a little luck and smart moves. Learn More: Check Out: For Andrew Lokenauth, a finance expert who leverages his Wall Street background to educate his millions of followers seeking investing and personal finance advice through his newsletter, Be Fluent in Finance, he found a strategy that got him to the top. Today, he's a successful entrepreneur who helps others increase their net worth, but he also lost a significant amount of money to financial mistakes that he estimates cost him a staggering $5 million in wealth. 'The worst part is that most were completely avoidable,' he said. Lokenauth has impressively achieved multimillionaire status, but his path wasn't easy — is it ever? He still has regrets, but reveals how he overcame his financial blunders and how others can avoid them in a candid interview with GOBankingRates. Regret #1: Not Maxing Out My 401(k) For employees with access to a 401(k), Lokenauth advises taking advantage of it and maxing it out. 'My biggest regret was not maxing out my 401(k) in my early 20s,' he said. 'I was making good money — about $100,000 to $300,000 — but I only contributed enough to get the company match. I thought I was being smart by keeping cash for opportunities.' The 'rookie' mistake cost him $1 million to $1.5 million in compound growth, he estimates. Explore More: Regret #2: Pulling Out of Investments Too Soon Lokenauth used timing to work in his favor early on, but timing wasn't on his side later when he misread the market and pulled out a large portion of his portfolio during a downturn — his second major regret. 'It was my failed attempt at timing the market,' he said. 'I was thinking I could outsmart everyone else and missed the recovery completely. The thing is, I was convinced I had special insight into market patterns.' That move cost him around $400,000 in lost gains. Regret #3: Letting Great Real Estate Deals Slip By Lokenauth's third regret is not buying certain properties when he had the chance because he thought the asking price was too high. 'That same property's worth four times more now,' he said. 'Sometimes I drive by it just to torture myself.' Despite these costly missteps, Lokenauth made some other smart moves that paid off in a big way. Timing Is Key When Building Wealth In 2008, the U.S. was in the midst of the Great Recession — the economic downturn triggered by a housing crash. The following year, Lokenauth graduated. And while many would have considered that bad timing, he didn't. 'While everyone was panicking, I was buying,' he said. 'Properties in NYC were practically on sale — and looking back, those real estate investments were game-changers. Same with the stock market.' How You Spend Your Salary Matters Besides turning a bad economy into an opportunity, Lokenauth's finance degree opened doors to high-paying jobs in the $100,000 to 300,000 range. But his paycheck didn't make him rich — it was how he invested his money. 'I lived well below my means and invested aggressively,' he said. 'We're talking 50% to 70% of my income going straight into investments — S&P index funds and tech stocks.' Boring Investments Work Best The real wealth builder for Lokenauth was what he invested in. He called it a 'boring-but-effective investment strategy.' 'I dumped money consistently into S&P 500 index funds and some tech stocks,' he said. 'Nothing fancy — just steady contributions month after month. And man, those early tech investments, particularly in companies everyone uses daily, really paid off. I also got into Bitcoin relatively early.' Lessons From Financial Mistakes Lokenauth may have lost a lot of money along the way, but he also learned valuable lessons that helped him become a multimillionaire. Understand how to pay taxes. 'I structured my business completely wrong in the beginning, paying way too much in self-employment taxes,' he said. 'A good CPA would've saved me at least $100,000 over those first few years.' Now he has a full team of tax professionals — expensive but 'worth every penny.' Don't wait for the perfect real estate deal. 'I missed countless good opportunities,' he said. 'My philosophy now is simple: If the numbers make sense and the location's solid, pull the trigger.' Don't overcomplicate investments. 'I spent way too much time chasing complex investment strategies when simple index funds would've done better,' he said. 'All those hours researching individual stocks, options trading, and hot tips from investment groups… Meanwhile, my boring index fund portfolio has consistently outperformed my active trading.' How To Avoid These Wealth-Building Mistakes Lokenauth not only advises his clients, but regularly shares tips through his newsletter and social channels on how to sidestep investing pitfalls. Here are five methods he recommends: Have a tax strategy from day one. Lokenauth says he saves 35% more on taxes annually just by structuring his finances correctly. 'That's money that goes straight into investments instead of to Uncle Sam,' he said. Assemble your wealth-building team early. Hiring professionals like tax strategists, financial planners and attorneys is essential. 'Sure, it costs $50,000+ annually now, but they've helped me structure deals that returned multiples of their fees,' Lokenauth explained. The power of boring investments can't be overstated. There's nothing wrong with basic index funds, and they require minimal effort. 'These days I put 80% of new money into index funds and only play with 20% in more speculative investments,' Lokenauth said. Timing matters — but don't wait forever. Don't hold out for the picture-perfect deal in real estate. 'I could've doubled my returns by starting five years earlier — just make sure you understand the risks, because overleveraging can wreck you fast,' he explained. Protect your assets. Lokenauth said he lost $200,000 in a lawsuit because his LLC structure wasn't set up correctly. 'Now everything's properly separated and insured — this seems obvious, but many skip this step until it's too late,' he said. Becoming a self-made multimillionaire doesn't happen overnight. For Lokenauth, the first million came after five years of savings and investing his salary. But the real wealth? That took a decade. 'That's when compound interest and appreciation started doing the heavy lifting,' he said. 'My early real estate investments doubled — then doubled again.' In addition, his index funds grew steadily, and his early tech and Bitcoin investments paid off. For Lokenauth, the first million was the hardest to achieve — but after that, his money started working for him. 'My investment income eventually surpassed my salary — that's when things got interesting,' he said. The road to millions was bumpy for Lokenauth, but small habits, like saving an extra $1,000 a month, made a huge difference over time thanks to compound interest. 'The core approach was pretty straightforward: Earn, save, invest, repeat,' he said. More From GOBankingRates 5 Steps to Take if You Want To Create Generational Wealth I'm a Financial Advisor: My Clients Who Retire Early All Do These 3 Things 4 Things You Should Do if You Want To Retire Early Dave Ramsey: The 3 Worst Mistakes People Make When Trying To Build Wealth This article originally appeared on I'm a Self-Made Millionaire, but I Could Have Been Richer: My 3 Biggest Regrets Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kirk Herbstreit on how to solve the transfer portal, NIL & the playoff
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz spoke with the ESPN college football analyst about what needs to happens over the next five years to answer some of the biggest questions in the sport. Kirk joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of Purina Pro Plan and its "Fueled By" video series featuring NFL tight end George Kittle and USWNT stars Rose Lavelle and Sophia Smith. View more Video Transcript Jason Fitz with Yahoo Sports hanging out with the great Kirk Herbstreit joining us on behalf of Purina Pro Plan. Start with what you actually think is realistic for what college football will look like in 5 years. I'm just taking it day by day like you are to imagine, hopefully in 5 years, we will have some, some concrete, this is who college football is decisions. And I feel like we've been drinking out of a fire hose for the last 3 or 4 years. And I don't see that going away for the next few years anyway. I think there's so many layers to it. There's the postseason part, you know, we're at 12, the contract's up. Are we going to 14, are we going to 16? Is it a 4-4-2-2-1-1? Is it a 5 and 11? Like what, what are we going to? And then the obvious is the transfer portal, NIL Revshare. I would love to see us somehow get to a point where we would have a collective bargaining agreement with somebody that's representing the players. And, you know, the conference commissioners or, or college football. And I would love to see us be able to agree on a lot of those issues, NIL portal, and all those things that drive all of us crazy. And then have an agreement, and then you don't have to worry about antitrust laws. My hope is we have some kind of CBA and some kind of understanding the players are essentially employees. And that doesn't mean school's not still important for some of these guys, doesn't mean you still shouldn't go get a degree. It just means we need to find a way to knock down the threat of litigation. You are sitting next to Purina Pro Plan. Talk to me about it, brother. What do you love about this? I'm very big into the ingredients that are in it. That they put in their dog food. The more real and the more organic, the better, as far as I'm concerned. That's why with this, what we've done, you know, over the last, oh, I don't know, 2 or 3 months, having a chance to do this fueled by docuseries with George Kittle. We had Sophia Wilson, Rose Lavelle, elite athletes in their own field. We had a chance to visit with them and, you know, they train hard, but they also fuel their body with the right food. No different than humans, anybody out there that tries to stay in good shape. Well, why shouldn't we be doing that for our dogs? And no matter what their age, no matter, no matter what their activity level or their breed, and it's so important to be able to give our dogs, it's our responsibility to give our dogs the right food and the right lifestyle. Close
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Could Explode to $136,000 if This Happens, Says Analytics Firm
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. In a recent prediction by analytics platform Glassnode, Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: BTC) value could potentially surge by roughly 15%, reaching a staggering $136,000, if current demand continues. However, there is a possible hitch to this prediction. What Happened: Glassnode's short-term holder (STH) cost basis model indicates that Bitcoin's next significant resistance level is just shy of $140,000. This model, which calculates the average price at which short-term Bitcoin holders bought their coins, can be utilized to identify potential entry and exit points. Trending: Tired of Grid Failures and Charging Deserts? This Startup Has a Solar Fix and $25M+ in Sales — Despite Glassnode's optimistic outlook for Bitcoin's value, the firm also cautions of a possible near-term peak as short-term holders sit on substantial unrealized profits. 'Short-term holders, being the more price-sensitive cohort, are now seeing their unrealized profit reaching marginally overheated levels, making the incentive for them to sell and take profit increasingly likely,' Glassnode noted. Currently, 95% of Bitcoin's short-term holder supply is profitable, which is seven percentage points above the long-term mean of 88%. If this metric starts to stabilize or fall below the 88% level, it could indicate a weakening demand or distribution taking place. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $118, It Matters: This prediction by Glassnode is significant as it provides a potential outlook for Bitcoin's value based on current demand and the behavior of short-term holders. The firm's STH cost basis model offers a valuable tool for investors to identify potential investment opportunities. However, the warning of a possible near-term peak due to unrealized profits of short-term holders also serves as a cautionary note for investors. The current profitability of Bitcoin's short-term holder supply, if it begins to stabilize or drop, could signal a shift in demand, impacting Bitcoin's value. Read Next: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — And You Can Invest At Just $6.37/Share If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it? Image: Shutterstock/CKA This article Bitcoin Could Explode to $136,000 if This Happens, Says Analytics Firm originally appeared on
