Tesla Pays Off Its $465 Million 'Loser' Loan - Businessweek

On a roll

"Of all his recent moves, this one must be especially sweet for Musk. Critics have long taken swipes at Tesla and its all-electric hippieness for relying on a federal handout. The most public of such barbs arrived from Mitt Romney during the presidential debates, when he described Tesla as a “loser” alongside Solyndra and Fisker Automotive. Even back then, it seemed a bit silly to lump Tesla—a company employing thousands of people at an American car factory—in with that group of green lollygaggers. And now that Tesla has paid its way off the government dole, Romney may have sealed his fate as that rare capitalist-cum-politician rooting against a successful American car company. (Although Sarah Palin has recently threatened to keep him company.)"

Tesla Pays Off Its $465 Million 'Loser' Loan - Businessweek