Elon Musk: Officially a fraud and piece of shit. Official or unofficial war criminal?

[TexPx 2,323]

My nephew has aspirations of becoming an engineer.

[Captainant 27,680]

47 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

So his company should now just eat $10s of millions in service costs each month indefinitely?

Where are you getting this number of costs? SpaceX quotes $500/mo public pricing for business internet service through them. I don't think Ukraine has 20,000+ starlink terminals driving that much in lost revenue. 

But yeah, in wartime it's considered a dick move to cut off a critical communications lifeline to an ally nation. If money is a problem, take care of it quietly. Doing it loudly and publicly does nothing but fuel kremlin propaganda and undermine Ukrainian opposition to Russia. 

I'd bet money wouldn't be so tight for musk if he hadn't bulldozed his way into Twitter and contractually committed to a meme price for his meme purchase

[Anastasis 23,475]

2 minutes ago, Captainant said:

I don't think Ukraine has 20,000+ starlink terminals driving that much in lost revenue. 

From the cnn article:
 

So far roughly 20,000 Starlink satellite units have been donated to Ukraine, with Musk tweeting on Friday the "operation has cost SpaceX $80 million and will exceed $100 million by the end of the year."

[Captainant 27,680]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

From the cnn article:
 

So far roughly 20,000 Starlink satellite units have been donated to Ukraine, with Musk tweeting on Friday the "operation has cost SpaceX $80 million and will exceed $100 million by the end of the year."

Huh, TIL. Didn't realize so many had been shipped, mea culpa for not clicking through the article

Edit: although I'm still not sure if I agree with calling donated hardware and services lost revenue. I'd you're expecting public market rates for it, it's not exactly a donation lol. 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Captainant

[Anastasis 23,475]

1 minute ago, Captainant said:

Huh, TIL. Didn't realize so many had been shipped, mea culpa for not clicking through the article

but I do agree that the matter would be better handled quietly. Space x sent a letter to the pentagon. Cnn got a hold of it and ran the story. Odds are the letter was leaked from musks side imo. He is butthead because the UKR diplomat told him to go fuck himself from the twatbox. 

[Captainant 27,680]

2 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

but I do agree that the matter would be better handled quietly. Space x sent a letter to the pentagon. Cnn got a hold of it and ran the story. Odds are the letter was leaked from musks side imo. He is butthead because the UKR diplomat told him to go fuck himself from the twatbox. 

Yeah, same sort of thing is what got musk into buying twitter - he got onto the board, some other board members didn't like him and wanted to remove him, so musk just "bought the company". Definitely seeing a pattern, imo

[atomheartbevo 89,732]

8 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

but I do agree that the matter would be better handled quietly. Space x sent a letter to the pentagon. Cnn got a hold of it and ran the story. Odds are the letter was leaked from musks side imo. He is butthead because the UKR diplomat told him to go fuck himself from the twatbox. 

Yeah, he even admits publicly to it.

 

[Anastasis 23,475]

Butthurt, ftr. 

[atomheartbevo 89,732]

 

[atomheartbevo 89,732]

 

[immamac 42,868]

Elon melting down in real time. You hate to see it. 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,311]

20 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Where are you getting this number of costs? SpaceX quotes $500/mo public pricing for business internet service through them. I don't think Ukraine has 20,000+ starlink terminals driving that much in lost revenue. 

But yeah, in wartime it's considered a dick move to cut off a critical communications lifeline to an ally nation. If money is a problem, take care of it quietly. Doing it loudly and publicly does nothing but fuel kremlin propaganda and undermine Ukrainian opposition to Russia. 

I'd bet money wouldn't be so tight for musk if he hadn't bulldozed his way into Twitter and contractually committed to a meme price for his meme purchase

I've got to think many of the units they sent to Ukraine are the better maritime ones able to be moving and designed to be more rugged and faster service.  Service on those runs $5K/month retail.

[Post Oak 20,246]

20 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Yeah, he even admits publicly to it.

 

What a fucking child.

[Captainant 27,680]

10 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

I've got to think many of the units they sent to Ukraine are the better maritime ones able to be moving and designed to be more rugged and faster service.  Service on those runs $5K/month retail.

From what Ukrainian twitter is saying, it doesn't sound like it. Lots of residential units bought and paid for by individuals at the $60/mo tier on their personal CC

[Eastwood 4,394]

20 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Yeah, he even admits publicly to it.

 

When I saw a screenshot of this tweet, I thought it had to be photoshopped. Nope, it’s real. Disgusting. I was looking at Teslas for a daily city driver, but that’s a hard no from me, now. And if he buys Twitter, then I’m off that platform, too. He’s far from the world’s savior and great innovator. The Thomas Edison comparison is pretty spot on. 

[Pig Bellmont 8,719]

He’s using the Twitter thing as a cover for doing Putin a favor. You guys see that right?

[atomheartbevo 89,732]

8 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

What a fucking child.

3 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

When I saw a screenshot of this tweet, I thought it had to be photoshopped. Nope, it’s real. Disgusting. I was looking at Teslas for a daily city driver, but that’s a hard no from me, now. And if he buys Twitter, then I’m off that platform, too. He’s far from the world’s savior and great innovator. The Thomas Edison comparison is pretty spot on. 

This is why so many companies and CEOs are careful about what they say on social media.  Throwing tantrums like that loses customers.  The fact that his company has gotten billions in government subsidies, as well as his trying to pretend that SpaceX is footing more of the bill than it is….is not a good look.

 And I know some RVers and others who love Starlink.  It’s obviously a great product, but now everybody is wondering if he’s making moves/being an asshole out of ignorance or that he’s worried about his suppliers in China or Russia (and Russian state media made comments about taking his satellites down).

Could just be that simple tech bro ignorance about the workd at large.

 

[Francisco 2.0 32,395]

So, let me get something straight.

Elon is the wealthiest person in the world, on paper.  He can offer $44 billion (and is going to pay out some large amount in the near future, even if the the deal folds) for Twitter on a whim.

He can donate equipment and services for Ukraine, but can't continue to foot the bill, because it costs too much?

Is that about right?

 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Francisco 2.0

[Hefeweizen 5,328]

That’s the size of it.  I think in a grotesque way he can’t help himself with Twitter posts.  But deep down he’s afraid he’s losing the Chinese market and that would be deadly to Tesla.  Starlink will not be distributed in China.  
 

But Tesla doesn’t want to lose that market and in fact just got some preferential treatment.

 

I can’t see this ending well for him.  He’s too addicted to the feedback loop.

[NoName 16,354]

6 minutes ago, Hefeweizen said:

That’s the size of it.  I think in a grotesque way he can’t help himself with Twitter posts.  But deep down he’s afraid he’s losing the Chinese market and that would be deadly to Tesla.  Starlink will not be distributed in China.  

But Tesla doesn’t want to lose that market and in fact just got some preferential treatment.

I can’t see this ending well for him.  He’s too addicted to the feedback loop.

i totally understand him siding with China because of the importance of it to his personal fortune and to TSLA.

...but siding with Russia? inserting himself in the UA/RU conflict? ON THE RU SIDE?! seriously...then coming out and demanding to get paid for starlink? then not understanding why Ukranians are telling you to fuck off? then being a petty child about it? (wait, this is literally the exact thing that has happened with the Thai soccer team, COVID, any politician he has supported, etc)

the funny thing of all of it is if he hadn't said what he said about the UA?RU conflict, then asked to be paid i think it would be taken totally differently. also, he cratered any opinion he may have on Taiwan by inserting himself in a fight that means literally nothing to him or his bottom line.

the guy can't help himself.

[SydneyCarton 48,110]

1 hour ago, immamac said:

Elon melting down in real time. You hate to see it. 

I hate to see his meltdown drag down Ukraine and Taiwan. 

[Captainant 27,680]

29 minutes ago, NoName said:

i totally understand him siding with China because of the importance of it to his personal fortune and to TSLA.

...but siding with Russia? inserting himself in the UA/RU conflict? ON THE RU SIDE?! seriously...then coming out and demanding to get paid for starlink? then not understanding why Ukranians are telling you to fuck off? then being a petty child about it? (wait, this is literally the exact thing that has happened with the Thai soccer team, COVID, any politician he has supported, etc)

the funny thing of all of it is if he hadn't said what he said about the UA?RU conflict, then asked to be paid i think it would be taken totally differently. also, he cratered any opinion he may have on Taiwan by inserting himself in a fight that means literally nothing to him or his bottom line.

the guy can't help himself.

So weird how business people seem to keep favoring fascism and using their business interests to influence national affairs.... Those pesky profit margins and pathological need for growth can really lead to some awful corporate behavior

[InkaUtexas 25,994]

Petulant dick fuck. 

[Clintonaldo 2,575]

Just another goddamn psycho that was given everything that cannot shut the fuck up on Twitter. 
 

sad thing is I would like to buy a Tesla but won’t now. 

[Brisketexan 105,158]

Just now, Clintonaldo said:

Just another goddamn psycho that was given everything that cannot shut the fuck up on Twitter. 
 

sad thing is I would like to buy a Tesla but won’t now. 

Yep.  I toyed with the idea for a while, but long ago decided that I'm not going to give Elon any of my money.

[NoName 16,354]

 

[F250 28,784]

4 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

It was a couple weeks after invasion when he sent the first units. I don't think most people, experts included thought it was going to last very long.

I get why Musk haters pile on him, heck prior posts take about him "taking sides" with Putin, but let's be real. If he doesn't get Starlink setup quickly for Ukraine and continue its service, Ukraine would have lost this war long ago. It's been vital for their survival.

 

 

[Eskimohorn 5,635]

Just sold my Tesla stock

[F250 28,784]

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

This is why so many companies and CEOs are careful about what they say on social media.  Throwing tantrums like that loses customers.  The fact that his company has gotten billions in government subsidies, as well as his trying to pretend that SpaceX is footing more of the bill than it is….is not a good look.

 Can you imagine the CEO of Lockheed talking shit about the HIMARS on Twitter while trying to troll a Ukrainian diplomat?

[Eastwood 4,394]

17 minutes ago, NoName said:

 

If this was the initial answer out the gate, then he would get more understanding. It wasn’t. Throwing a hissy fit first and then walking it back trying to rationalize once you don’t get the response you want is the same bullshit my 5 year old does. 

[NoName 16,354]

22 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

If this was the initial answer out the gate, then he would get more understanding. It wasn’t. Throwing a hissy fit first and then walking it back trying to rationalize once you don’t get the response you want is the same bullshit my 5 year old does. 

of course it wasn't if he said "hey guys, we are spending $20m a month on burn for the UA starlink project" he would have had people phoning congressmen about it.

instead, he didn't.

also, who believes the actual number is $20m?

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,311]

1 hour ago, F250 said:

 

 

[Brisketexan 105,158]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

of course it wasn't if he said "hey guys, we are spending $20m a month on burn for the UA starlink project" he would have had people phoning congressmen about it.

instead, he didn't.

also, who believes the actual number is $20m?

Yep.  Some things are rising to the level of rules.  For example, rule: if Elon says something about anything material, it is not true.  Never, ever believe anything Elon says.

[royiv 9,326]

I don't feel a lot of sympathy for the guy who has amassed gargantuan wealth off of the teet of government subsidies. 

[wildcat09 29,355]

 

We should nationalize SpaceX. 

[Brisketexan 105,158]

39 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

 

We should nationalize SpaceX. 

Tell me more about this "leaking a belief that Ukraine can't win."  That statement has the stench of person X saying thing Y, and then saying/writing "So, people are saying thing Y...."

I smell bullshit.  Which is Elon's signature scent.

[gsoda3 3,263]

On 10/13/2022 at 1:46 PM, Samson's Wig said:

The point was that both have very specific functions and aren't capable of contributing much else.  The difference is that ditch diggers understand this, for the most part.

terrible take.  woz, sundar, gates, bezos, zuck... the list of engineers who have spearheaded american economic growth the past 3 decades is very long. 

[Brian Fantana 6,689]

15 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

terrible take.  woz, sundar, gates, bezos, zuck... the list of engineers who have spearheaded american economic growth the past 3 decades is very long. 

You get one point and one point only for not putting the name "Jobs" in there

[NoName 16,354]

26 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I smell bullshit.  Which is Elon's signature scent.

i'm pretty sure THIS is Elon's signature scent:

 

[Bullneck 19,178]

7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Yeah, he even admits publicly to it.

 

Musk was told to fuck off because he said after all the Russians have done to Ukraine they should surrender.  What a jackass.

[Bullneck 19,178]

51 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

terrible take.  woz, sundar, gates, bezos, zuck... the list of engineers who have spearheaded american economic growth the past 3 decades is very long. 

The bar for being an engineer is pretty low.  Gates and Zuckerberg both dropped out. No judgement here, since they did well for themselves.  Just saying.

[Bullneck 19,178]

[Eskimohorn 5,635]

terrible take.  woz, sundar, gates, bezos, zuck... the list of engineers who have spearheaded american economic growth the past 3 decades is very long. 

Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook have a well-documented record of anticompetitive behavior. There can be a legitimate debate on their role in the American economy, and whether its healthier because of these companies and ones like them that use venture capital to prop up the business, eliminate jobs and industries, then shrink the players in the market.

[TKthunder2 4,992]

3 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

We should nationalize SpaceX. 

This is a stupid comment, and this is how you kill innovation.

[wildcat09 29,355]

The United States government is famous for never doing anything in space before Elon came along.

[Cornpop 230]

10 hours ago, Captainant said:

Yeah, same sort of thing is what got musk into buying twitter - he got onto the board, some other board members didn't like him and wanted to remove him, so musk just "bought the company". Definitely seeing a pattern, imo

I think it was more about free speech

[F250 28,784]

2 hours ago, Bullneck said:

The bar for being an engineer is pretty low.  Gates and Zuckerberg both dropped out. No judgement here, since they did well for themselves.  Just saying.

I don't think either were engineering majors. Pretty sure both were CompSci which isn't engineering.

[MeerkatBong 115]

12 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

The United States government is famous for never doing anything in space before Elon came along.

NASA was Uncle Rico, peaking in 1969, and welcomed private money to spur innovation again. You can hate Elon Musk without also mindlessly defending everything the US government does (or doesn't). They aren't mutually exclusive.

[wildcat09 29,355]

2 minutes ago, MeerkatBong said:

NASA was Uncle Rico, peaking in 1969, and welcomed private money to spur innovation again. You can hate Elon Musk without also mindlessly defending everything the US government does (or doesn't). They aren't mutually exclusive.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that.

[Clintonaldo 2,575]

3 hours ago, Bullneck said:

This was the first sign to me where I started thinking he wasn’t God.