French President Emmanuel Macron argued on Wednesday that public investment is crucial for European industry, citing the U.S. government's support for Elon Musk's Starlink project as an example. He claimed that Musk has received "excessive subsidies" from American authorities, prompting a response from the world's wealthiest individual.

At an industrial summit held in Antwerp, Belgium, Macron advocated for a "buy European" competitive strategy and called for large-scale investments, partly funded through joint borrowing by the European Union.

He stated, "If you look at the situation in the United States, you'll see there's a huge amount of private capital... but at the same time, there's also a massive amount of public funding."

"Everyone is fascinated by Starlink... but if you think clearly, you'll realize that Mr. Musk is probably one of the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer money in the world. What I mean is, Elon Musk is primarily someone who receives excessive subsidies from U.S. federal agencies. The good news is, this has made him highly innovative," Macron remarked.

Musk quickly responded to Macron's comments on his social media platform X, asserting that European countries provide more subsidies to their domestic industries than the United States does.

Musk said, "If you add up all the government support Tesla Motors and SpaceX have received to date, it amounts to only about 1% of the two companies' total market value. In contrast, if you perform the same calculation for major aerospace companies in the U.S. and Europe, their government support exceeds 100% of their own value!"