Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren called Elon Musk “the world’s wealthiest freeloader” as the debate continues over taxes paid by the billionaire Tesla founder.
The conflict began when Musk was revealed to be Time Magazine’s Person of the Month. Warren posted on Monday, “Let’s fix the corrupt tax code so that The Person of the YEAR will actually pay taxes and not freeload off anyone else.”
Musk soon hit back, writing, ‘Stop projecting,’ and linking to a Fox News opinion article claiming Warren lied about having Native American heritage to benefit from affirmative action.
Musk stated, “You remind of me when I was little and my mother would randomy yell at people for no reason.”
“Please do not call Senator Karen the manager.
Warren, however, clapped back in an interview on Wednesday with MSNBC, calling Musk “the world’s wealthiest freeloader” and saying that he has a “very thin skin”.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was interviewed by Joy Reid of MSNBC on Wednesday. She clapped back against Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, for calling her Senator Karen. He claimed he’s ‘the richest freeloader in the world’ and that he’s ‘evidently thin’.
Joy Reid had previously given the Massachusetts senator an opportunity to address Musk’s now-famous tweet, “Senator Karen”, by commenting.
Time Magazine named Elon Musk the 2021 Person Of The Year
MSNBC’s host started her interview with Musk calling him “the absolute most evil”, and highlighting his opposition of President Joe Biden’s Build back Better agenda. She also pointed out that, even though Biden called for the end of subsidies to governments, Tesla was able to succeed despite having received subsidies from government.
After quoting Warren’s tweet, Reid referred to a ProPublica investigation, which stated: “Its Investigation found that Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018 and less than $70,000 between 2015 and 2017”.
Warren was then contacted to discuss Musk’s tweet. Warren responded that Musk is the world’s wealthiest freeloader and she clearly has thin skin.
“But, you know what makes me mad about this?” “But you know the part that makes me angry about this?” she said.
“It is on behalf of all public school teachers, waitresses, computer programmers, street cleaners who paid taxes. That means that they paid more federal income taxes than Elon Musk.
“And that’s just wrong, it’s a sign the system is broken.
“But these days, when these men not only get the chance to pick it all up but also then rub it in everyone’s face while they travel off into outer space, and proclaim how they achieved this feat on their own because they were subsidized both by the federal government as well as subsidized every public school teacher and waitress who had paid their taxes are over.
Elon Musk must eat this big of a meal, she said.
Musk was photographed Monday, after being selected as the Person of Year by Time Magazine
Senator Elizabeth Warren attacked Telsa CEO Elon Musk, after the 2021 Persona of Year award by Time Magazine. He should pay his fair share.
Musk hit out at the senator via Twitter and gave Karen the nickname Senator Karen
Warren’s tweet wasn’t the truth, however. This is the first time a billionaire has criticised politicians for their wealth and accused them of exploiting tax loopholes that allowed them to pay very little, if any taxes.
Last month, Musk mocked Sen. Bernie Sanders who called on the nation’s ‘extremely wealthy’ to pony up more cash in a tweet, drawing the attention of Musk, who had sold more than $5 billion of his Tesla stake.
Musk did so after launching a Twitter poll that guided him toward selling $25 billion in stock to fund President Joe Biden’s proposed billionaire tax.
Musk, responding to Sanders’ demands, indicated he wouldn’t draw the line there.
‘I keep forgetting that you’re still alive,’ Musk, the world’s richest man, tweeted at the senator.
‘Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word …’
Also, he attacked Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon who supported wealth taxes for billionaires. He also criticised Musk’s Twitter poll.
Wyden said that Wyden’s statement, “Whether the richest man in the world is paying any taxes should not depend on results from a tweet poll.” “It is time to implement the Billionaires Income Tax.”
Musk reacted by ridiculing Wyden’s faces, writing: ‘Why does your pp look just like you just arrived?
After Ron Wyden and Bernie Sanders complained about Musk’s inability to pay taxes, Musk attacked them both and demanded that billionaires do the same.
2021 Time magazine awards
Hero of the year: Vaccine scientists
Athlete of the Year: Simone Biles
Entertainer of the Year: Olivia Rodrigo
However, his row with Warren comes after Tesla founder Tesla sold all his belongings to move to Texas. He launched rockets into orbit, invented new driverless cars and shared his Asperger’s diagnosis on Saturday Night Live. This tweet also influenced the stock market.
Musk, in his quest to be the Person of Year, spoke to Time Magazine to discuss his “semi-separated” status with Grimes. He also slammed the vaccine mandates for an ‘erosion of liberty’. Musk shared plans to fly a Noah’s Ark spaceship filled with animals to Mars, as part of his efforts to colonize the planet.
Musk’s net worth is $265.4 billion as of Monday. Musk spoke out about his status as the richest person in history and the world, pointing to another individual who is richer than him.
“Well, there are some sovereigns, I believe. I believe [Russia’s]Putin is significantly wealther than I. Musk stated that he cannot invade other countries or stuff.
“When looking at asset and income distribution it is crucial to account for age. He explained that as society age, more people are older and are therefore richer.
“But, a lot the push for greater government involvement and expropriation assets by the government are pushed by some politicians who actually say that private citizens shouldn’t have control over resources. Musk suggested that the government should control them.
He is criticized for his immense wealth but pays little or no taxes. He has been openly critical of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Plan. It is funded entirely by the’very largest corporations and wealthiest Americans.
SpaceX CEO, Tesla, made history multiple times in 2018, including SpaceX’s launch of its first-ever all-civil crew into orbit. In addition to a contract worth $3 billion with NASA, the aerospace firm also fought with Jeff Bezos.
Musk (left) will have to pay $15 Billion in taxes for the stock options that he received in 2012. After being named Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year, Musk is pictured here with Edward Felsenthal, Time Magazine Editor in Chief.
SpaceX’s CEO spoke out about the company’s success.
“If there were no engines and ships, but boosters and rockets, then we’d be losing billions every quarter,” he said. He also admitted that bankruptcy wouldn’t be impossible if this continued.
Musk stated, “I feel that we’ve enjoyed many years success and a lot people have never experienced a launch failure.” Musk claimed that many people had never experienced a recession in their careers.
“If someone entered the workforce in 2009 or later, it seemed that things would always improve.” He expressed concern that people might become complacent.
Musk has described himself as a ‘utopian anarchist’ and aims to utilize his businesses to create a more efficient and automated future.
The utopia in which everyone can access any product or service they wish is possible. A highly automated future will have robots capable of doing anything. Any work that you do, it won’t be due to obligation, but because it is what you love to do. Musk explained that Musk didn’t want to make chaos out of it, but that it was important to remember that no one is in control.
CNBC reported that the billionaire now faces a tax bill exceeding $15 billion. This will impact stock options and other investments.
Musk received stock options in 2012 when Tesla was a young company. He was part of a compens plan which would have given him 22.8million shares for $6.24. These shares now account for nearly $28 Billion in his gains.
Stock options allow an investor to purchase or sell stock at a agreed-upon price. According to Investopedia the stock options allow the trader to select a particular date on which they believe a stock will rise/fall.
Musk’s stock option expire in August 2022. Musk will have to pay the income tax on his gains. Because they are employees benefits, or compensation, the tax rate for them is 37 percent plus the 3.8 percent investment tax.
Musk will have to also pay California’s top tax rate since the options were granted when he was Californian resident.
CNBC reported that the combined federal and state tax rates on the gains of his gains would be 54.1 percent. This means the tax bill for August will total $15 billion.
Telsa also revealed that he had taken out loans using shares as collateral and may need to repay those debts.
According to the Securities and Exchange 10Q third quarter filing, Musk could be forced to sell Tesla stock by any of the banks institutions to pay his loans if the stock’s price falls significantly.
“Any sales of such stock could further reduce the value of our common stock.”
Tesla ended Wednesday closing at $975.99. This is more than 1 percent higher than the day prior.