Elon Musk is causing havoc in Washington — but that doesn’t justify using the tools of government to single out his company, Tesla, for attack. Just as Donald Trump was wrong to turn the White House into a Tesla showroom, an icky and transparent attempt to boost the fortunes of the world’s richest man, opponents of Trump and Musk are wrong to put Tesla in the crosshairs in retaliation for the duo’s fire-bombing of the federal bureaucracy.
We know Musk is Tesla CEO, making him and the company synonymous in many people’s eyes. It’s not that simple, however. He owns 12.8% of the publicly traded company. The lion’s share of shares owned by institutional investors, and by ordinary Americans.
And while Musk is Tesla’s richest and most visible employee, more than 100,000 people work for the company, including 22,000 in California; about 7,000 in Nevada; about 12,000 in Texas; and about 1,500 in Western New York. On those salaries and benefits, men and women support their families and enrich their communities.
As for the 2 million or so Americans who drive Tesla vehicles, many bought their cars because they believe in weaning the transportation sector off fossil fuels, or just because they just thought they were cool. How many ride around in Teslas to express solidarity with Musk and Trump? Who the heck knows.
And it shouldn’t really matter, either. In a civil society, it should be considered beyond the pale to spraypaint or dent a car to take it out on the CEO of the company that made that car. And it should be considered unacceptable for politicians to blindside a company for punishment because of its CEO’s political proclivities.
Which brings us to the case of the Tesla factory in South Buffalo. The factory is there thanks to a 2014 deal with the state of New York, brokered as part of then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative. The Buffalo Billion was riddled with corruption; it is a significant stain on Cuomo’s legacy.
But the factory remains, as do its employees. It’s smaller than it was supposed to be, and plenty about it is a cautionary tale for how not to do economic development — but the moment calls for cool, analytical heads.
Last year, putting such heads to work, Gov. Hochul’s administration began renegotiating the state’s arrangement with Tesla; in January, the administration reached an agreement to extend the company’s lease on South Buffalo’s sprawling “gigafactory” for another five years. The draft deal would still have to get approved by the board of the state’s economic development authority, includes promises of higher rent payments and other alterations.
Nevertheless, Musk foes in the Assembly are calling for the state to yank its agreement entirely. City comptroller candidate Justin Brannan, who commends city pension funds’ divestment from fossil fuels, now wants to divest from Tesla stock as well. Really?
We can enthusiastically get behind calls by state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblyman Micah Lasher to audit the Tesla deal rigorously — provided that similar scrutiny is applied to the wide range of companies that make agreements with the state.
Don’t get taken for a ride by Tesla, or by any company. Do play fair. Donald Trump uses government as a weapon against firms he considers political enemies. That’s a model to reject, not emulate.