Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Sunday said that neither his EV company Tesla Inc. TSLA nor his rocket manufacturing company SpaceX has any interests in Russia.
What Happened: “I literally have zero interests [in] Russia,” Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Tesla has no operations there, SpaceX directly competes with Russia for space launch and Starlink is a key asset of Ukraine.”
Musk was responding to a podcast by Sam Harris with journalist and author Anne Applebaum wherein the latter hinted at the possibility of Musk having business interests in Russia.
Musk also slammed Harris as a “pompous hypocrite.”
“Sam Harris is a pompous hypocrite (writes book about how lying is terrible and then advocates lying to keep Trump from being elected) who is visibly and audibly detached from reality. How far he has fallen,” Musk wrote, referring to Harris’ affiliation with Democrat politics.
Musk himself endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump earlier this month.
Why It Matters: Musk’s SpaceX competes with Russia’s Roscosmos in the field of space launches. In the first quarter, SpaceX launched 31 missions, trumping China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) which had 9 launches, and Russia’s Roscosmos which had 5. SpaceX also switched on its satellite internet service called Starlink for use in Ukraine after Russia invaded the country.
Earlier this year, Musk denied reports that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia.
“Starlink satellites will not close the link in Russia,” Musk then said.
As for Musk’s EV company Tesla, the company does not have stores, superchargers, or service centers in the country, as per the company website.
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