You know, I was fully in agreement with you, but I just went looking for numbers and apparently Space X has only received about $20 million in local incentives and rebates for a space launch facility in Texas (although I'm not sure about the "only". That info is generally prefaced by a note that Space X doesn't disclise financial info, and I'm not sure if that implies there could be more or not). Almost all of the $4.9 billion that it's been reported his companies have received in subsidies is for Tesla and Solar City.

So, apparently the example is actually better than it seemed to both of us.

Subsidies are one thing, contracts are another form of support. Government contracts are what kept SpaceX afloat in 08, when they couldn't find private clients, and these contracts can be excess of 100 million.

If we start counting government contracts as "support", there's a whole bunch of companies that need to be viewed in a different light. Every defense contractor for one. Every company that sells to the public school system for another.

It's not like these companies are getting something for nothing, they still have to provide a good or service.