Elon Musk built his empire on innovation — or so we’re told.

In reality, the empire we now know as Tesla, SpaceX, and formerly SolarCity, wasn’t just built on electric dreams or clean energy promises. It was built on government subsidies, financial manipulation, and, as we now know, cheap prison labor.

Multiple investigations have confirmed that Musk-linked companies have directly benefited from the use of inmate labor, often at wages under $1/hour, while delivering projects funded by public money and wrapped in “green” marketing.

That isn’t just an ugly contradiction. It’s a scam — one that exploited prisoners, taxpayers, and investors alike.

🔒 The Buffalo Factory: Where Solar Dreams Met Prison Chains

The most blatant example came from SolarCity, the now-defunct solar company chaired by Musk before being absorbed into Tesla Energy. In 2016, SolarCity was involved in building Gigafactory 2 — a giant solar panel facility in Buffalo, New York, intended to jumpstart Musk’s solar vision.

But here’s what the press release didn’t say:

• The facility was part of New York’s “Buffalo Billion” initiative, a $750 million taxpayer-funded development package.
• Labor was sourced not just from New York workers, but also from incarcerated men at Groveland Correctional Facility.
• These inmates were paid just 93 cents an hour, cleaning, prepping, and maintaining a billion-dollar facility they’d never benefit from.
• The jobs were menial, without training, and offered no career pathway post-release — undermining the entire justification for prison labor as rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, SolarCity executives collected bonuses, and Elon Musk, as Chairman, continued to push narratives about “saving the planet.”

📉 A Failing Company Rescued With Public Cash — And Inmate Labor

Even worse: SolarCity was financially failing at the time of this project.

The company was hemorrhaging cash, failing to scale, and its solar roof product was turning out to be vaporware. So in 2016, Elon Musk engineered a $2.6 billion acquisition by Tesla, effectively bailing out a company run by his cousins — with shareholder money.

And guess what? Tesla inherited all of SolarCity’s contracts, assets, and obligations — including the labor arrangements at the Buffalo factory. In short: the prison labor continued, now under Tesla’s name.

Not only did Musk get rid of a collapsing solar brand, he folded it into the Tesla story, greenwashed it, and used it to keep the hype machine running.

🏗️ The Gigafactory in Nevada — Same Game, New State

The problem didn’t stop in Buffalo.

In Nevada, another of Musk’s projects — the original Tesla Gigafactory near Reno — also benefitted from prison labor, this time through subcontractors working with Panasonic, Tesla’s battery partner.

Inmates were employed via Staffing Solutions of Northern Nevada, a contractor that sourced labor from the Northern Nevada Correctional Center. They earned around $1 per hour or less, while producing components and prepping facilities that directly supported Tesla’s operations.

Again:

• Tesla didn’t hire the inmates directly.
• But the supply chain benefited.
• And Musk said nothing — no condemnation, no reform.

Just more tweets about saving humanity.

🌍 A Pattern of Exploitation

Musk’s companies don’t merely flirt with unethical labor practices — they depend on them.

Here’s a snapshot of the broader picture:

• Cobalt sourced from Congo: Tesla’s battery supply chain has been tied to child labor and dangerous mines, with multiple lawsuits filed by human rights groups.
• Chinese forced labor: Tesla suppliers in Xinjiang have been investigated for using Uyghur forced labor, a practice the U.S. officially considers part of a genocide.
• Toxic factories: In Germany, Tesla’s Berlin plant faced criticism over water pollution and worker safety violations during rushed construction.

When you zoom out, a clear theme emerges: Musk’s empire grows wherever he can exploit the cheapest possible labor with the least possible oversight, then greenwashes the outcome.

🧠 Why This Matters

Musk positions himself as a moral genius — someone saving Earth from climate collapse, building AIs to protect civilization, and planning to colonize Mars as a backup plan.

But back on Earth, he’s used inmate labor to clean factories funded by public subsidies, all while collecting billions in stock options and pushing the idea that he’s self-made.

There is no moral leadership in that story.

There is no innovation in paying 93 cents an hour for janitorial work while tweeting about freedom and abundance.

There is only exploitation, buried under the most expensive PR campaign in modern history.

📉 ESG Fraud: Where Are the Ethical Investors?

Tesla is included in countless ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) portfolios — the kind sold to retirement funds and well-meaning investors who think they’re backing positive change.

But ask yourself this:

• What’s “socially responsible” about using prisoners to build taxpayer-funded infrastructure?
• What’s “sustainable” about supply chains that rely on child labor and forced labor?
• And why is no ESG fund downgrading Tesla for these practices?

The answer is simple: the myth of Musk is too profitable to challenge.

He gets away with it because no one wants to admit they’ve been fooled — or worse, that they’ve profited from abuse.

🗣️ Even Employees Are Speaking Out

A former employee who helped create TeslaEmployeesAgainstElon.com spoke out after being fired. The one-page site contains testimonies, screenshots, and warnings for the public.

In their words:

“We are not allowed to speak the truth here. You get fired for being honest.”

If workers at Tesla’s core are afraid to tell the truth, and inmates are being used to clean their factories, what exactly are investors cheering for?

💥 Innovation or Incarceration Economics?

Elon Musk didn’t build his empire by outworking everyone. He didn’t out-innovate Ford or Toyota. He didn’t discover a new business model.

He abused the existing one more aggressively than anyone else.

He:

• Exploited government credits,
• Manipulated stock prices with tweets,
• Promised vaporware to keep the hype alive, and
• Used the cheapest labor available — even if that meant prisoners — to meet targets.

That’s not the future. That’s Gilded Age capitalism with a WiFi signal.

📎 Sources:

• Grist: Musk’s SolarCity Used Prison Labor
• LinkedIn: PJ Wilcox on Prison Labor
• TeslaEmployeesAgainstElon.com