Emperor of Mars: The Official Elon Musk Thread

[Psy-Fi]

"I don't really want to try to adhere to some CEO template"

[QuantumSync]

[Buck_Mulligan]

Surprise surprise! Several news outlets have been reporting that claims made by DOGE about how much money they've saved so far don't add up. Different outlets are using different numbers but the general picture is the same.

Whoever is crunching the numbers for DOGE needs to check their math.

DOGE launched its "wall of receipts" database on its website Monday and claimed responsibility for canceling $55 billion in government spending. The largest item contributing to the total was an $8 billion contract for a diversity initiative paid for by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But that was a typo. The real maximum value of the contract was $8 million. Only $2.5 million had been spent on it before its cancellation.

DOGE fudged the numbers in other ways to reach its $55 billion in claimed savings. From CNN:

A CNN review of contracting data showed that about two-thirds of the total claimed savings from contracts listed on the DOGE site came from taking the maximum amount that could possibly have been spent on so-called "indefinite delivery" contracts... The second-, third- and fourth-largest savings listed on the DOGE site came from three IDV contracts signed by the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, related to services for the agency's research office. Each contract lists a maximum ceiling value of $655 million. Since the contracts were signed in 2020, the government has only committed to spending about $55 million in total under all three of them over the last four and half years.

Cabinet Secretaries have complained to the WH that DOGE is not coordinating with them. Chief of Staff Suzie Wiles has told Musk to do better.

[Psy-Fi]

[QuantumSync]

"living the meme"

[Psy-Fi]

DOGE won't get broad access to IRS personal taxpayer info, agreement states

[QuantumSync]

[Auroras In Ice]

Crazy that this guy's PR team once had the world convinced he was some sort of real life Tony Stark.

[Jwb]

The only time it's acceptable for Elon Musk to say something as utterly cringe as "I am become meme" is in his suicide note. 

[Trollheart]

Crazy that this guy's PR team once had the world convinced he was some sort of real life Tony Stark.

Stark staring mad, yes.

[Buck_Mulligan]

People are now protesting outside Tesla showrooms. Tesla owners are expressing embarrassment. A Tesla subreddit has started a petition to have Elon removed as CEO. More to come, I hope.

[QuantumSync]

[Trollheart]

Doesn't this whole Musk thing seem like the college kids and tech bros who got none and various incels are just now living the dream? Their leader has the power and the money, and they can do whatever the hell they want. It's like a big MMMORPG and the DM is Musk, except this time the game world is, well, the world. Well, America anyway.

[Buck_Mulligan]

Before it was DOGE it was USDS (Digital Services) with its own employees already in place. 21 of those have now resigned saying they don't wish to participate in the plunder.

Separately, 2024 Tesla sales for Europe overall were down 45% while other EV sales were up 37%. Suck on that, no wait!

[QuantumSync]