Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) discuss Elon Musk and the 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
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Washington Post
36 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Musk sought to stoke the Trump-Epstein scandal. Mission accomplished.
One person stands vindicated as the enduring fallout of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal haunts President Trump this month: his former adviser and friend Elon Musk. During the public implosion of his alliance with the president in early June, Musk claimed that Trump was refusing to release files related to the Epstein investigation because the president was named in the documents. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the claim as an 'unfortunate episode,' suggesting that Musk's outburst stemmed from frustration with the adverse effects Trump's tax legislation would have on his businesses.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
If You Had Invested in Elon Musk's Companies 10 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today
You might be wondering just how rich they could be if they'd invested in Elon Musk's companies a decade ago, when he was still just a rich guy and not the richest man alive, according to Forbes. After all, he must have made smart investments to get so rich, right? So why couldn't you be just as rich if you'd invested in the same way? Or at least super rich? So, let's take a look at the companies Musk founded and how they've helped him grow his wealth, as well as how rich you'd be if you'd invested 10 years ago. Check Out: For You: Musk's Companies Musk has indeed grown rich as a result of founding and then selling companies that went on to become very successful. His first company, Zip2, is now long gone, having been absorbed by another company. But it is where he made his first millions when he sold it and made $22 million, according to Forbes. He then took that money and invested in PayPal and that's where our story begins. See Next: PayPal Musk founded PayPal with his friend and business partner at the time, Peter Thiel. Though the application, aimed at allowing businesses to pay each other digitally, didn't get off to a great start, it has since done very well. PayPal is now one of the most used applications for the transfer of funds between parties. Musk is no longer involved with PayPal. In fact, he was removed from the company as CEO and replaced by Thiel by the board. Like with Zip2, the board found Musk to be a less-than-ideal leader. But that doesn't mean his initial idea wasn't great. Indeed, if you invested in PayPal back in 2015, when the company split from eBay to become its own entity, your stock growth would be about 200%. It's not rocket growth, of course, but it's still not bad. As of July 2015, PayPal stock was worth $38 per share, according to Nasdaq. As of June 2025, it's worth $74. So, if you'd invested $10,000 in PayPal 10 years ago, today, you'd have $19,500. Not bad. SpaceX SpaceX is one of the companies Musk is most well-known for. It has helped contribute to better telecommunications via its Starlink offshoot and it is heavily funded by government programs to explore space. Since 2008, the United States taxpayers have paid SpaceX more than $20 billion in government contracts, according to Fox Business. Musk's 42% stake today is valued at $147 billion, according to Forbes. SpaceX is not publicly traded, but you can buy it with a tool like EquityZen. Tesla Tesla is perhaps the other most well-known of Musk's companies. In 2004, two men, Martin Eberhard and Marc Terpenning, founded the car company after the inventor Nikola Tesla to create electric vehicles for eco-conscious drivers. Though Musk invested in Tesla early on and was chairman of the board, he took over as CEO in 2008, after ousting Eberhard. The company continued to do well, but it was not the phenomenon it is today. In 2015, the average closing price of Tesla stock was $16 per share, according to Macrotrends. As of June 2025, Tesla stock, even down from its height, is trading for $317 per share. That's a growth of more than 1,900%. In short, if you invested $10,000 in Tesla stock 10 years ago, you'd have approximately $304,000 today. OpenAI Many people still don't know about OpenAI, Musk's nonprofit, which he co-founded in 2015. The purpose of this company is to research friendly AI that supports humanity. He has since resigned from the board due to Tesla AI conflicts. And because it is a non-profit, privately owned company, investors cannot buy shares, so you would not have been able to make any money here, either. To Invest or Not To Invest? In the end, you can't know for sure what will do well and what won't, but understanding patterns is helpful. This is why it's worth looking back at how investors make their money. It's also helpful to understand that Musk made his first billion not from investing in companies but from buying and selling them, which is a huge difference. If you're going to invest, it might be a good idea to look at index funds and diversified funds, rather than putting all your eggs in one or two baskets. Unless you've got the capital to invest in a startup and the mind to foresee its success. More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Warns of 'Red Rural Recession' -- 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard 7 Tax Loopholes the Rich Use To Pay Less and Build More Wealth How Much Money Is Needed To Be Considered Middle Class in Your State? This article originally appeared on If You Had Invested in Elon Musk's Companies 10 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today 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
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
The All-New Tesla Model Coming Soon Is Not What You Think
A new Model Y driving in LA (Photo by MEGA/GC Images) So, is there a new, more affordable Tesla in the pipeline? Apparently yes, and it's not what you think. Last week, on a second-quarter Tesla earnings call, the man himself, Elon Musk let the cat out of the bag when he said, 'It's just a Model Y.' Really? What does that mean? Could it mean that it's just a stripped down Model Y? And what about the future of the federal tax credit? Let's face it: Tesla is the only American automaker capable of producing a high-end, realistic, appealing electric vehicle for less than $30,000. And if they have to bring the car back to bare bones to make it sell, then that's what they'll do, apparently. People just don't have enough money to buy Teslas now Musk expanded by saying that, 'The desire to buy our cars is very high. It's just that people don't have enough money in the bank to buy them. That's the issue. So the more affordable we can make the car th Tesla CEO Elon Musk says new car is Model Y. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ... More ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images) Then he revealed how potential buyers can possibly offset the purchase price of their car by 'releasing their car to the fleet and have it earn money for them,' suggesting that people may 'lend' their cars back to Tesla in a type of robotaxi relationship perhaps. Musk then went out on a limb by saying he's confident that 'I think this will happen next year in the U.S. at least.' His comments though raise more questions than provide answers. By saying 'it's just a Model Y,' does he mean a 'new' Y with upgraded parts but based on the old platform, which would help to keep costs down? What we do know is that the more affordable Model Y, as referred to by Musk, should be surfacing in Q4 this year. But that will be long after the $7,500 federal tax credit ends—which will make it even tougher for Tesla to get the price down to the sub-$30,000 level that Musk seems to be alluring to. Let's have a quick look at Tesla's current pricing. Today, the Model Y rear-wheel drive variant costs $44,990, which when you factor in the $7,500, drops the price to $37,490. But with that tax credit gone, and we expect it to disappear very soon under the Trump Administration, the price for a current model Y will hover around $44,000. So for Musk to achieve his goal of achieving a sub-$30,000, he will need to find $15,000 worth of savings in specs and features. The question is—which features to strip back? If it's going to be used as some kind of robotaxi, then it will need all of its AutoPilot features. And given that the Y has been rated as one of the safest on the road by Euro NCAP, ANCAP and IIHS, Tesla would not want to skimp on safety features in any way—which would make it difficult to reduce pricing. But Musk has pushed the boundaries of car tech in the past and redefined the genre, so we will give him some latitude and wait for further updates even if his car sales are hurting all over the planet.
