Tesla · Governance · 6 Nov 2026

Elon says Tesla has no government contracts, and SpaceX government work will be under 10% of revenue this quarter

Elon Musk said on Friday that Tesla has no government contracts and that government revenue will be less than 10% of SpaceX revenue this quarter, falling below 5% a year from now. He was quoting a draft letter from Warren Redlich that offers to cancel any federal contracts Democrats want dropped. Elon added that he is "happy to cancel any that the government doesn't want." None of those numbers come from a filing.

From Alex RTesla · Governance · News & analysis

Updated 9 Nov 2026

The editor holds Tesla and SpaceX shares. Supercharged Daily is independent and not affiliated with either company. Nothing here is financial advice.

The editor holds Tesla and SpaceX shares. Supercharged Daily is independent and not affiliated with either company. Nothing here is financial advice.

The letter Elon was answering

Warren Redlich (@WR4NYGov) posted a short draft at 9:54am ET Friday (6:54am PT) and asked Elon to send it on 1 January. It is addressed to Senate and House Democrats. In it, the Elon of the draft says many of them criticize his companies for receiving federal contracts, offers to cancel, and asks them to publish a list of each contract to cancel, with any required agency consent, so the companies can "cancel promptly."

Elon quoted it about 75 minutes later and opened with "Exactly 😂." He did not say he would send the letter, on 1 January or any other date. What he did say is that he would cancel any contract "the government doesn't want," and he ended with "Just say the word!" That is an open offer on X. Nothing he posted names a contract, an agency, or a process for doing it.

The Tesla half of the post

Elon's first claim is that Tesla has no government contracts. He paired it with a second point: President Trump ended federal incentives for electric vehicles. Put together, his argument is that Tesla gets neither contract revenue nor a federal EV subsidy, so the criticism in Redlich's draft does not apply to the carmaker.

The contract claim is Elon's statement on X. He did not link a filing or a contract database, and this article does not add one. Readers who want to test it would need Tesla's own disclosures, which Friday's post does not cite.

The SpaceX half: price, product, and a falling revenue share

On SpaceX, Elon made two kinds of claims. One is about quality and cost: SpaceX's government contracts are "BOTH the best product AND the lowest price," in his capitals. The other is a set of numbers. He said government revenue will be less than 10% of SpaceX revenue this quarter and less than 5% a year from now. (He typed "less then 5%.")

Both percentages are forecasts from the company's chief executive, posted on X. SpaceX is privately held and does not publish a breakdown of government versus commercial revenue, so there is no public figure to check them against. For the share to halve in a year, government revenue would have to grow much more slowly than the rest of SpaceX or shrink outright. He did not say which part of the business he expects to drive that.

What is confirmed, and what is Elon's claim

Confirmed from the posts themselves: Redlich published a draft letter offering to cancel federal contracts that Democrats list, and Elon quoted it at 11:10am ET Friday (8:10am PT) with the text embedded above. The timing, wording, and his "happy to cancel" offer are on the record.

Not confirmed by any filing or government record cited on Friday: that Tesla holds no government contracts, that SpaceX's contracts are the best product at the lowest price, and the under-10% and under-5% revenue shares. Those come from Elon alone.

Sources: Elon Musk on X (6 Nov 2026); Warren Redlich draft letter on X (6 Nov 2026). Hero photo: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani / Wikimedia Commons, public domain. As of 6 Nov 2026.

— Alex R