A rocket towers above SpaceX’s South Texas facility. Credit: Wikipedia Commons / Mobilus In Mobili

The South Texas building spree by billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX appears to have outpaced its payments to roughly two-dozen contractors, Reuters reports.

Companies that have done work for Boca Chica-based SpaceX have filed at least 72 liens since 2019 against sites built by the company and its affiliates, the wire service reports, based on a review of Texas property records. Those liens seek to cover more than $2.5 million in allegedly unpaid work.

“If they were to call me today, I’d tell them to fuck off,” said Brian Rozelle, an owner of Hydroz Energy Services LLC, told Reuters after his experience providing services for SpaceX.

SpaceX hired Roselle’s small business to clear storm drains near its campus but waited months until after the work was done to settle the $19,000 bill, he alleges. The company reportedly  didn’t pay up until two weeks after the contractor filed its lien last summer.

In Texas, construction firms can use liens to stake monetary claims on properties on which they worked but didn’t receive payment. Properties tied up in liens become hard for the owner to sell or refinance.

Although Forbes ranks Musk as the world’s second-richest person, this isn’t the first time he’s faced complaints about failing to pay his bills.

The billionaire — who also owns automaker Tesla — has faced lawsuits from multiple Twitter creditors since his 2022 takeover of the social media company. What’s more, four former Twitter executives sued earlier this year, claiming he owes them $128 million in unpaid severance,

“SpaceX is the big bully on the playground,” Carlos Cascos, a Brownsville accountant and former Texas secretary of state told Reuters. “They get away with this stuff because people want to do business with them.”

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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...