Elon Musk’s Companies Have Faced At Least 20 Federal Probes

Elon Musk’s many successful companies have reportedly faced at least 20 federal investigations and reviews in recent years.

Tesla and SpaceX especially have faced heavy scrutiny, red tape, and fines over the course of their operations, The New York Times reported.

These two companies also contract heavily with the federal government — last year, Musk’s companies secured nearly $3 billion across 100 contracts with 17 federal agencies.

The Times declared that Musk’s “influence over the federal government is extraordinary, and extraordinarily lucrative” although it acknowledged that his companies are “increasingly facing regulatory battles and overlapping federal investigations from all corners of the government.”

SpaceX has been slapped with violations and fines by both the Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. It was also slapped with a discrimination lawsuit by the Justice Department and accused of OSHA violations by the Labor Department. The Department of the Interior also conducted a review of Starbase, the company’s rocket launch facility in Texas, and the Federal Communications Commission rejected subsidies for Starlink, the company’s satellite internet network.

Tesla has been under investigation by three entities, the Justice Department, Transportation Department, and Securities and Exchange Commission. The electric car company has also been hit with OSHA violations by the Labor Department and has faced oversight by the National Labor Relations Board. Tesla was also hit with a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It also saw enforcement actions from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Neuralink, Musk’s brain implant company, was fined by the Transportation Department and saw an investigation by the Agriculture Department.

X, formerly Twitter, which Musk bought two years ago, has seen investigations and a court order from the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as oversight and a consent decree from the

Musk has openly expressed frustration with the heavy regulation of his companies.

Last week, he filed a lawsuit against a California regulator that cited his politics in their decision to reject more SpaceX rocket launches.

“It is illegal for them to make decisions based on what they (mostly wrongly) think are my politics,” Musk said. “Yet here they are shamelessly breaking the law!”

This election cycle, Musk has thrown the full weight of his financial power and celebrity behind former President Donald Trump, even campaigning with Trump in person earlier this month. The tech mogul has also hosted multiple town halls by himself to promote Trump in Pennsylvania, the most crucial swing state, and has repeatedly urged swing state residents to register to vote.

Musk has offered to head up a “government efficiency” commission under a potential second Trump administration to slash bureaucratic waste.

However, because of all the federal oversight on his companies, Musk has an “enormous conflict of interest,” the Times declared, although the outlet acknowledged that Musk’s formal power would be quite limited as historically Congress has refused to agree to ideas from business outsiders like Musk.

“But a suggestion from Mr. Musk could still be damaging to an agency, if he singled it out to Mr. Trump as an example of waste or mismanagement,” the Times warned.