Reuters: Unpaid Contractors File Liens Against SpaceX

May 13, 2024 Business, Trump cultists

SpaceX is building launch facilities, office buildings and even a shopping center in rural Texas, as billionaire Elon Musk’s space venture rapidly expands its rocket and satellite business across the Lone Star state.

But a Reuters review of Texas property records shows that SpaceX and its contractors can be far slower to pay builders and suppliers than they are to break ground. Unpaid bills and finger-pointing among contractors, Reuters found, have led many construction-industry businesses to file liens against SpaceX properties in efforts to get compensated.

The result, several of those businesses told Reuters, is a reluctance to work on SpaceX-related projects again. “If they were to call me today, I’d tell them to fuck off,” said Brian Rozelle, an owner of Hydroz Energy Services LLC.

Read the full article. Billions in federal contracts and tens of millions in state tax breaks are really paying off the little people. Of note, last week Reuters won a Pulitzer for its reporting on Elon Musk’s business empire.

Musk’s SpaceX is quick to build in Texas, slow to pay its bills https://t.co/V2tudavaWY pic.twitter.com/EfjLqm0TW2

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 13, 2024