• finitebanjo@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    Even if he loses hundreds of billions of dollars he’s still richer than like 99% of individual people worldwide will ever be.

    I will save the schadenfreude for when he pays for the deaths of men, women, and children who were denied care from the USAID funds being cut.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
      0·
      3 months ago

      He won’t though because although what he did is immoral it wasn’t illegal. After all the president of the United States authorised these actions they must be legal.

      Financially he’s going to suffer but there’s nothing in law that can be done to him.

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        We’ve both seen how quickly the legislative landscape can change, let’s not write this loss off just yet.

  • GratefullyGodless@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Musk learned the hard way why other billionaires don’t get directly involved in politics, and buy politicians instead. That way they get what they want, but let the politicians take the heat for pushing through the billionaires agendas.

    The problem for Musk is that his ego wouldn’t allow him to sit quietly on the sidelines calling the shots. He had to prove how smart he was, and how he was the only one who could fix the government. Now, he’s pissed off almost everyone, has lost various large foreign contracts for his companies, drove sales of Tesla into the ground, and is watching Trump undo the “brilliant” governmental cost cutting that he did.

    And, his ego still won’t let it go, as now he’s suggested he’ll start his own political party. You just know the other billionaires are looking at him and going “What a dumbass!”

    • Taalnazi@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      And still some dumb Americans will think:

      “Billionnaires got a lot of wealth, so they must know what they’re doing. Let them fix it.”

      When the actual answer is:

      “Billionnaires never once worked as much as we did. They got born with a fuckton of money. Let them eat cake.”

        • FATALRPG@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          0·
          3 months ago

          Most drug users are people self medicating to cope with serious trauma. Most autistic people are decent human beings.

          Elon Musk is a shit human being and a Nazi. It’s not about his autism or drug use. When I get fucked up - I don’t turn into a fucking Nazi.

  • krashmo@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    He collected data on all Americans from multiple government agencies, successfully killed multiple investigations into several of his companies, and secured additional government contracts for those companies. Is that what we’re calling nothing these days?

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
      0·
      3 months ago

      And Trump is now threatening to cancel those government contracts. So he’s blown everything he’s gained (and then some) from his little fling with Trump.

      • krashmo@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        Even if we assume those contracts get canceled, unless they force him to destroy that data (which probably isn’t possible at this point) and reopen all those investigations then that’s not really true, is it?

      • pi3r8@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        That’s what trump does. He threatens. Then in the majority of times he gets distracted or backs down. Those contracts aren’t cancelled until they are cancelled.

        • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
          0·
          3 months ago

          Yeah he’s all TACO when doing things that’ll break the economy. But killing SpaceX won’t break the economy and he’s looking for something he can do that’ll make him appear strong. I wouldn’t bet either way on this, they’re both nutjobs.

    • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      How will he benefit from the data he collected? He’s not in advertising and even if he were a snapshot isn’t worth much - you’d need an ongoing stream. Location data from teslas would be more valuable than the data could’ve stolen with doge.

    • katze@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      He collected data on all Americans from multiple government agencies, successfully killed multiple investigations into several of his companies, and secured additional government contracts for those companies. Is that what we’re calling nothing these days?

      But he also inflicted a lot of long-term damage upon himself and his businesses. So the question in the post still stands.

  • untakenusername@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    3 months ago

    5D chess, us mere mortals simply cant comprehend his immense genius

    spoiler

    I wish I didn’t have to put this here, but someone is for sure going to think I’m serious if I don’t. /s

  • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Hard crash on the businesses, he sells whatever he has that’s worth good money (other, not his, companies stock) and buys a bunch of the destroyed stock. Promises to cede control, but continue funding. Tesla rebrands, becomes affordable and consumer friendly.

    I mean, there’s no way he would let all that happen. But he’s still sitting on an absolutely massive pile of money. If he had the balls to pull the rip cord he could sit right where he is for the rest of his life. He just doesn’t have it in him.

    • EchoSnail@lemmy.zip
      0·
      3 months ago

      If I had fuck you money I’d buy Mount Everest, use my boring company to build a fucking subway railcar tunnel escalator thing. And then build an evil lair on top of my Everest. Fill a moat with lava or some shit, and then never see people again.

      Id hollow out the mountain enough for artificial farms and then pay the local community filthy amounts of money to produce my food for me.

      Oh. And also, 20 million to whoever can make proton work 100% on ARM64 or create a compatibility layer for x86/64 for ARM.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
      0·
      3 months ago

      Don’t forget the lying. He always always lies to sell his shit, always has for decades now, and it works, people always lapped yo every dumb bullshit that came out of his mouth

    • psmgx@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      that may have been entirely or mostly intentional, because it’s now 100% a right-wing propaganda machine and it got Trump elected

    • Tilgare@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      Yes, this. It may be drugs, it may be mental disorder, but what it CERTAINLY is is narcissism and megalomania.

      Just like every Trump voter who never thought it would happen to THEM when tornado relief was denied or they were deported or their farm was on the brink of financial collapse thanks to tariffs, Musk seems to have thought he was safe? That HE could control Trump? I knew getting these two megalomaniacs together like this would go badly, I’m just impressed it lasted so long honestly.

  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Centrist democrats are already warming to him. Then again, they have been waiting for this moment ever since he performed his nazi salute.

    • spacecadet@lemm.ee
      0·
      3 months ago

      Makes sense considering Cory Booker did the same Nazi salute and he is a centrist democrat

      • Reddfugee42@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        Got a video of that, buddy, where he hits his chest and then goes to a straight arm with no wave, twice?

        • spacecadet@lemm.ee
          0·
          3 months ago

          https://x.com/greenbergnation/status/1928917909088211440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1928917909088211440%7Ctwgr%5E90d752f4e65d34dca49e7a491ddada96bb105838%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2F2025%2F06%2F01%2Fus-news%2Fnew-jerey-sen-cory-booker-roasted-for-nazi-salute-at-california-democratic-convention%2F

          • Reddfugee42@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            3 months ago

            🤣 you could just say you didn’t have the video of him striking his chest and doing it perfectly straight arm twice in a row.

            Thanks for this, I needed a laugh

        • Reddfugee42@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          3 months ago

          You’re misreading the article if you think it shows Democrats are “warming” to Elon Musk. No one quoted in the piece says they like him, trust him, or think he’s a decent person. In fact, what it shows is the exact opposite: many Democrats are still deeply skeptical of him and consider his behavior and politics dangerous. What’s happening here isn’t about admiration or trust—it’s about strategy and necessity. They’re engaging with him not because they want to, but because they feel they have to, given his immense influence over major technologies like EVs, space infrastructure, and social media.

          Take Rep. Robert Garcia, for example. He doesn’t praise Musk or suggest he’s come around to liking him. He says, “Musk has clearly gone down a right-wing rabbit hole,” and openly criticizes his platforming of extremists. The article quotes him as seeing Musk as someone who “lets people say hateful, violent, racist things.” That doesn’t sound like someone warming to him—that’s someone holding their nose while trying to work with him for practical reasons.

          The same goes for the White House. Yes, they’ve met with Musk and engaged him in policy discussions, but that’s because he controls major assets that intersect with government priorities: EV manufacturing, satellite internet, space tech. Musk is essentially a utility at this point—a problematic one, but one that’s too entangled with federal initiatives to ignore. It’s not about warming up to him. It’s about needing him to cooperate because of the role he’s carved out for himself, not because anyone thinks he’s a good actor.

          This is politics, not personal affection. Democrats engaging with Musk doesn’t mean they like him—it means they’re being realistic. They’re dealing with a man they see as dangerous and ideologically aligned with Trump, but who unfortunately holds keys to several important doors. The article reflects that tension. If anything, it paints a picture of wariness and pragmatism, not warmth.

          Whippersnapper.

    • stormeuh@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      For now, he does have that yes, but his wealth is for a significant portion a house of cards built on the value of tesla stock. If the value of that stock falls far enough, lenders who gave him loans with tesla stock as collateral could margin call him, essentially asking for more collateral. That could make him the poorest person in the world quite quickly, i.e. billions in debt.

      • Subverb@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        While you’re absolutely correct, even if Musk lost 99.7% percent of his wealth he would still be a billionaire (depending on whose net worth number you choose to use). I wouldn’t hold out seeing him in a bread line or starting a gofundme.

        • howrar@lemmy.ca
          0·
          3 months ago

          The real question is whether the collapse of his house of cards will lead to a 99.7% loss of wealth or >100% loss. He won’t be a billionaire anymore if it’s the latter.

          • Subverb@lemmy.world
            0·
            3 months ago

            Yeah, he probably will. I know I’d be surprised if he didn’t have money squirreled away somewhere.

            • howrar@lemmy.ca
              0·
              3 months ago

              I’d also be surprised if no one goes after him for trying to run away from debts. If we know anything, it’s that most laws only apply when they benefit the rich, and he’ll be making a lot of rich people angry if it turns out he did have extra money squirreled away.

        • Fusselwurm@feddit.org
          0·
          3 months ago

          huh. showerthought:

          broke: gofundme woke: sell shares/stocks bespoke: have your company subsidized by the state

    • Contemporarium@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      Are you serious? He wants people to think he’s cool SO bad it’s genuinely so pathetic lol. All the other billionaires you could say that. But Elon is so desperate for people to think he’s this funny cool based guy it’s hilarious

      • fodor@lemmy.zip
        0·
        3 months ago

        That is partly true, but also he’s a strong narcissist. They make up their own stories. They’ll play up the feud to take eyes off of other bad shit.

        Don’t think for a second he lost or he’s gone or it’s all over for him. He doesn’t see it that way.

        • faintwhenfree@lemmus.orgEnglish
          0·
          3 months ago

          I swear I have seen a comment very similar to this, not word for word, but pretty much similar structure and words and points describing Kanye.